


Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron

by Naruwitch



Category: Code Geass, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Euphie/Suzaku comes later, F/M, Follows Voltron canon, Friendship/Love, Galra connected to Geass, Gen, Kallen is Red Paladin, Lelouch is Black Paladin, Lelouch learns to trust, Milly is Yellow Paladin, Original Paladins don't exist, Rai has PTSD, Rai is Green Paladin, Rai was Galra prisoner, Rivalry, Rivalz is Blue Paladin, Secrets Revealed, Seven Lions, Shirley is Orange Paladin, Suzaku is Purple Paladin, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 17:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10949073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naruwitch/pseuds/Naruwitch
Summary: Britannia invaded Japan 7 years ago and since then many citizens of Japan have attempted to rise up in rebellion against the empire with little success.One day on a hiking trip, the student council from Ashford Academy discover a cave filled with lion and catlike drawings. Within the cave, they discover a huge robotic lion that is one of seven pieces to a giant robot named Voltron: the Defender of the Universe.Will Voltron be enough to free Japan?





	1. Rise of Voltron Part 1

"Why isn't this just perfection everyone?" trilled the voice a curly haired blonde in designer hiking boots and leather jacket, "The way the sun meets the lake and the mountain air whipping in your face! This was the perfect day for a hike to Lake Kawaguchi!"

"If (gasp), you say so (gasp) Milly," coughed a lanky dark haired teen behind her, currently bending down on his knees heaving large gasps of air.

"See Lulu? This is exactly why you shouldn't always be skipping out on gym class. What on earth will the ladies think of a man that isn't even strong enough to sweep them off their feet?" the blonde, now named Milly, teased with a quirky grin to the boy.

"Lelouch doesn't need the muscle," said another teen of seventeen years behind them said, "while he may be frailer than a twig he has the brains to make for it."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny Suzaku!" Lelouch replied glaring lightly at the Japanese boy.

Almost all of the members of Ashford Student Council were out hiking by the great Mt. Fuji (Nina wasn't attending as she had 'other' plans) to get to one of the beaches by Lake Kawaguchi to celebrate the new additions to the Student Council in the forms of Suzaku Kururugi, the son of the late Emperor Kururugi and one of the first Elevens to attend Ashford Academy, Rai, a mysterious, tech savvy, silver-blonde haired boy that arrived at Ashford about a week ago. Milly and Lelouch had found him wandering around Ashford grounds in nothing but what appeared to be rags and numerous injuries and offered him a place to stay so long as he attended the school as a student, and Kallen Stadfeld, the sickly daughter of a Britannian noble that often missed school due to illness.

Unbeknownst to all but Lelouch however, Kallen's real name is Kallen Kozuki and was really of both Britannian and Japanese descent and was also a current member of a Japanese resistance group her late brother had started shortly after Japan was invaded. Until Japan was liberated, however, she was forced to play the role of a sickly Britannian noble daughter that could barely seem to stand on her own two feet. A role that she hated with every fiber of her being.

Kallen was currently being piggy-backed up the mountain path by a blue-haired boy named Rivalz Cardemonde, the Student Council Secretary. A happy-go-lucky guy and always willing to help others, especially girls, he took it upon himself to carry the 'crippled' student council member up to the mountain and was currently doing a really good job despite the fact that he was panting nearly as hard as Lelouch.

"Doing alright there Rivalz?" laughed an orange-haired girl named Shirley Fenette at Rivalz's predicament.

"Yep! Yep! I'm good, don't you worry about me!" the blue-haired boy smiled, "Don't worry Kallen, the lake isn't that far from here!"

"Thank you…" Kallen muttered in her faked timid voice. Even though she hated the position that she was in right now, she had to admit that deep down she was actually quite touched that Rivalz was willing to carry all the way up to the lake.

Everyone laughed at Rivalz's determination. Unbeknownst to them, a green haired yellow-eyed woman followed them not too far behind.

o~o

The lake waters were cool and clear as the crew set up for the day at the beach. Milly was already in the water floating on an inflatable water bed and Suzaku, Rai, and Rivalz had pulled out some water guns and were battling it out, they even dragged a reluctant Lelouch in, though he seemed more interested in dodging the attacks to get out of the water than fighting back. Shirley and Kallen were on the shore tanning under an umbrella.

After about thirty minutes of fun in the water, Rai returned to shore and emptied out the heavy-looking backpack he had brought along with him. The items inside included a small satellite, headphones, a receiver, and what appeared to be some sort of Geiger counter. Rai adjusted the headphones onto his head listening to a faint electronic beeping and a multitude of voice murmurs.

"Rocking out to something?"

Rai gasped as he looked to see that Milly and everyone else in the group had left their activities and snuck over to see what all the equipment was about. Rai removed the headphones to speak to them.

"It's nothing important," Rai responded trying to sound casual.

"Why did you bring all of this equipment out here Rai?" Suzaku asked eying it suspiciously, "It looks similar to the stuff the military uses."

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're thinking," Rai defended, before smiling proudly, "I built all this."

"You built all this?" Rivalz asked in amazement before Rai swatted his hand away when he attempted to touch the satellite, "How? When?"

"I-I don't know," Rai admitted, "I've always had a knack for building things like this, but I can't seem to recall from where. Either way though, I designed the satellite to reach as far as the edge of the Solar System, though it works a little better at night."

"You mean all the way to Kerberos?" asked Kallen in amazement, "Why so far out?"

"Stop Rivalz!" Rai exclaimed when Rivalz attempted to poke the Geiger Counter this time. Rivalz reeling back pouting. He just wanted to have a look, was that asking too much?

"Now Rai," Milly purred with 'that' smirk on her face, "if you're going to remain a member of the Student Council we can't be having any secrets now can we~?"

Rai sighed. 'Well the cat's out of the bag now,' he thought. "Okay, fine… long story short, I've been picking up alien radio chatter."

(For sound effect, think messed up record player)

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Come again?" Kallen asked as everyone else stared at him like he just grew an extra set of eyes.

"...D-did you just say aliens?" Shirley asked tentatively.

"Okay, so you're a little cuckoo, I'll keep that in mind for the next Crossdressing Ball," Milly said with a playful shrug.

"No, I'm serious!" Rai protested as he pulled out a notepad with the word 'VOLTRON' written across on the top and child-like drawings of robots and aliens below it, "They all keep repeating one word: 'Voltron'! I didn't know what it meant at first, so I did a scan of the surrounding land of Area 11, and this area," he pulled up a map on his laptop with several blinking points, but one that was biggest was where they were now, right next to Lake Kawaguchi, "I've never seen a radiation spike like this, but when I saw that the Lake wasn't closed off because of this radiation I figured it could maybe be this Voltron."

"So that's why you wanted to come here to 'celebrate'! So you could investigate further." Suzaku realized as he remembered that Rai insisted going to Lake Kawaguchi to celebrate the addition of three new student council members.

"But that doesn't explain how you pinpointed the location of this 'radiation' Rai," Lelouch said.

"That's where this Geiger Counter comes in!" Rai explained, snatching it from Rivalz who was holding it, causing him to pout, "I noticed that the repeating series of numbers I keep hearing looked like a Fraunhofer line."

"Frown-what now?" asked Rivalz asked, confused as ever.

"Fraunhofer line," Suzaku explained, "I learned about this during my military training in the Engineering Department. It's the number describing the emission spectrum of an element. The head of the department said that the military used to use this a few years ago when Area 11 was first established to locate the major sakuradite mines to use for the Knightmare Frames."

"Exactly, thank you Suzaku," Rai continued, "that's exactly what I've been picking up, except this 'element' doesn't exist on Earth, that's what led me to the conclusion that this could be the 'Voltron' thing I've been hearing the chatter, so I built this Geiger Counter that's specifically designed to locate it."

"Wow!" Shirley sounded impressed, "And here I thought Nina was the school's tech genius."

"It's actually pretty cool, really," Rai said rummaging around in his bag again before he pulled out a sheet of paper, "The wavelength looks like this."

"Rai, can I see that?" Lelouch asked as if realizing something. Rai handed the paper over and Lelouch stood up and held the paper in a way that the wavelength was right in front of him. The others watched as the chess master glanced between the paper and the mountain range surrounding Lake Kawaguchi.

"Wha… What is this?" he whispered mostly to himself, though the others heard him as well.

"What are you doing?" asked Kallen curiously.

"Guys look at this," Lelouch expanded the reading to show them, "this reading matches the mountain range exactly."

"Holy Britannia you're right!" Shirley exclaimed in realization. Everyone else shared various levels of surprise as well.

"So?" asked Rivalz, "What does it mean?"

"Rai," Milly asked, "how accurate is that Counter thing of yours?"

"Um… I haven't really tested it out yet, but it should be able to pick up right away."

Milly simply smirked one 'those' smirks, which depending on the day could make the other members of the student council fear for their lives.

"Everyone… who wants an adventure?"

o~o

Using Rai's Geiger Counter (that was surprisingly effective) as a guide, the group soon found themselves deep within the forest surrounding Lake Kawaguchi. Milly seemed uncharacteristically determined to find out what Rai's Geiger counter was picking up. The only time she was as determined as she was now was when something outrageous was happening at the Academy and offered a kiss from a member of the student council as a prize, much to the ire of the other members.

"How much further Rai?" asked Milly. As Rai knew how to use the Geiger counter, he was the one leading the group, he had Rivalz holding the small satellite that went with it to pick up the reading.

"According to the readings… it's right around…" Rai stopped in his tracks as they came to the edge of a clearing. On the other side of the clearing was the opening to a cave.

"...Here."

"Inside that cave?" asked Rivalz.

"Well, where else would it be coming from?" Suzaku asked.

"Okay," Shirley said shrugging her shoulders, "we found out where this 'Voltron' energy thing is coming from, can we go back to the beach now?"

"No way Shirley!" Milly exclaimed, "I know it's weird for me to say this, but we should totally check it out! Who knows what could be in there!"

"Exactly!" Shirley nearly shrieked, "What if there's some dangerous radioactive… stuff in there and we end up getting affected?! I could get cancer or have one of my children be born without legs!"

"Shirley, calm down," Lelouch reassured the green-eyed girl, "There's nothing to worry about. Besides, if this area was radioactive it probably would have been closed off to the public for it to be dealt with. Heck, the lake itself could have been closed in case radioactive waste got into it."

This seemed to calm Shirley down if only slightly, though she still seemed hesitant to explore a weird cave they happened to find in the middle of the forest.

"Look, Shirley, it could be nothing," Suzaku said, "we'll just have a look at the entrance if there's nothing there we can leave."

"Exactly!" Milly appraised, "Simple and clean curiosity, that's all."

"Well… okay if you say so."

"Well come on! I want to see this!" Rivalz exclaimed, running toward the cave entrance, dragging the sickly Kallen behind him, who 'struggled' to keep up.

"Rivalz slow down!" Milly called running after him, Rai following close behind.

"Well, let's-"

"WOAH!" Rivalz shout interrupted Suzaku, "Guys! Check this out!"

Alarmed by Rivalz shout, Lelouch, Suzaku, and Shirley were quick to follow into the cave.

What they saw made them freeze in awe.

On the walls of the cave were drawings. Drawings of a giant blue lion. It seemed every wall of the cave told a story about it. Some had images of people bowing and worshipping it, while others showed the lion performing acts of great heroism. Stopping a meteor from crashing into the earth, spreading rain over fields of crops. It went on and on.

"What is all this?" asked Lelouch, looking at the drawings.

"It looks like… drawings of a lion goddess?" Kallen guessed.

"There aren't any lion gods, or goddesses, in Japanese myth right Suzaku?" asked Milly. Suzaku shook head in denial.

Rivalz looked closely at the markings of the lion, he noticed one drawing was partially covered in dirt so he swiped his hand over it to get a better look. Suddenly all of the drawings started glowing a bright blue. Rivalz yelped and jumped back.

"Rivalz! What did you just do?!" shouted Kallen in alarm.

"Nothing! I just touched it! That's all!" the boy defended in a panic.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them glowed bright blue as well in a circular shape and suddenly gave way. The group slid down rapids of the water screaming at the top of their lungs. The rapids ended in a waterfall that led to a shallow pool at the bottom. Everyone groaned as they picked themselves up, now soaked from head to toe. Rivalz groaned as he straightened and blinked. When his vision finally cleared, he was slack-jawed, as was everyone else.

"Lions are everywhere…" Rivalz muttered as the group stared at the glowing orb with a large mechanical lion inside.


	2. Rise of Voltron Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue Lion appears and adventures begin.

"What is that? Is that the 'Voltron'?" Shirley asked nervously, staring at the giant robot lion. The lion itself was made out of blue metal with metallic legs and torso. The face of the lion looked like one you would see on an ordinary lion with bright glowing yellow eyes and a white muzzle with blue on the edges.

"It must be it…" Milly said, unusually serious.

"I haven't seen any Knightmare frames this advanced or in this design before, not to mention it's way bigger!" Suzaku said. Being a member of Earl Lloyd Asplund's engineering core allowed Suzaku to know about a lot of the military's weapon projects, but as far as he knew there was no mention of a weapon like this.

"Me neither," said Lelouch.

"But then why is it here then?" Kallen asked.

"I don't know," Rai admitted, still in absolute awe of the giant robot, "but this must be where I'm getting all those crazy readings from!"

Lelouch started approaching the lion, seeing that there wasn't anything or anyone here to stop him from doing so. The other student council members followed close behind. "It looks like there's some sort of force field around it, so it should be okay to approach."

As they walked closer Rivalz kept his eyes on the lion. The teen couldn't explain it but it felt like the lion was staring at him. "Um, does anyone else here feel like this thing's staring at them?"

Everyone looked at him like he was nuts, "No..." Kallen said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, the eyes are totally following me!"

Lelouch was standing right in front of the force field and he put his hands on the surface, his eyes squinted in concentration, "Wonder how we get through this…"

"Maybe you just have to knock…" Rivalz said sarcastically and did just that. He yelped when it felt like a jolt of electricity ran through him. The forcefield glowed with a blinding light before vanishing from around the lion and the platform underneath suddenly lighting up as well. The ground beneath them also rumbled as everyone simply stared at the lion in shock.

Suddenly and image of seven lions, each looking similar but each a different color, fly high into the sky like shooting stars. In a flash of light, the lions were gone only to be replaced by a gigantic robot with red and green arms, orange and blue feet and shins, to orange and purple knees and upper legs, and a head with the same glowing yellow eyes inside the mouth of a black lion. It swung its sword of fire across the sky lighting it for the universe to see.

"Woah!" Rivalz muttered in awe as did everyone else. "Uh... did everyone just see that?!"

"Voltron's a robot!" Shirley shouted in shock.

"A huge… huge AWESOME robot!" Milly practically squealed in excitement.

"And this thing is only one part of it," Kallen added, "I wonder where the rest of them are?"

"If that's the case then what is it doing down here?" Lelouch asked, "And why isn't it with its other pieces?"

"I don't know," Suzaku muttered, "but it's still incredible."

"I know for certain now that those aliens I heard are looking for this thing," Rai confirmed.

The lion suddenly started to move on its own as it lowered its head in front of the students. Shirley immediately started screaming in fright scared that it might eat them. That turned out not to be the case however as the lion's mouth opened right in front of Rivalz to reveal a pathway inside of it.

Skeptical, but still curious to what was inside, Rivalz approached the platform and walked in. The other students followed close behind. Right before the lion closed it's mouth though, another person also snuck on behind them. The green-haired woman quietly found what looked to be a small sleeping chamber in the back of the lion and snuggled into the area without anyone noticing.

Rivalz quickly took the path up and found what looked like the pilot's control room with a single chair in the middle of the room. Looking around, Rivalz took a seat and crossed his legs with a smug smile.

"Well, here we go-woah!" Rivalz was cut short as the seat suddenly pushed him forward to the front. Once it stopped the room started glowing in a bright blue aura and control screens popped up in front of Rivalz. The other student council members weren't too far behind him, all of them staring in wonder at the advanced technology inside.

"Woah!"

"Cool!"

"Wow!"

"Alright very nice!" Rivalz said with a laugh as the main screen in front of them turned on to show the inside of the cave they were just in.

"Okay, uh everyone," Shirley said nervously, "I think I just need to point out, just so we're all, you know, aware. We're in some kind of futuristic, alien cat head right now."

Just as the words left Shirley's mouth, Rivalz felt another jolt of electricity run through him, only this one seemed to penetrate to his very core. His ears suddenly filled with the sound of a purring lion.

"Woah! Did you guys just hear that?!" asked Rivalz almost frantically.

"Hear what?" asked Suzaku cautiously.

"I-I think it's talking to me," Rivalz tried to explain as he examined the control panels in front of him before spotting a keyboard. For some reason, as if through instinct he knew which buttons to push. He had no idea what was happening, but it was like the lion was telling him what to do somehow. After pushing the correct keys the legs of the lion moved and it lifted its head and let out a mighty roar that shook the cave. The lion seemed almost happy to be moving around, but no one could feel it's excitement as much as Rivalz was.

"Okay got it," he said with a grin, "now let's try this!" Rivalz pushed the controls forward and the lion shot out of the mountain cave like a rocket and flew into the sky, and as it was descending to the ground it did a front flip before using rockets in its legs to fly across the ground. It then shot into the air again with a series of corkscrews, with everyone inside the head screaming at the top of their lungs, and everyone holding onto either the pilot seat or Rivalz himself.

"RIVALZ!" screamed Kallen as the lion did a few more flips, "YOU ARE. THE WORST. PILOT. EVER!"

o~o

Meanwhile…

"What in King George's name is that?!" exclaimed Viceroy Cornelia li Britannia, seeing the blue lion swooping around near Lake Kawaguchi. About a few miles away from where the lion was discovered, a small military base had been set up upon Earl Lloyd Asplund's request, believing it could function as a good practice sight for the Lancelot Knightmare Frame that Suzaku piloted. Cornelia had visited the base to ensure everything was in order only to receive a shocking surprise at the Blue Lion's appearance.

"It appears to be a flying, lion-like knightmare ma'am!" a soldier next to here reported as he lowered his binoculars.

"I can see that you fool!" Cornelia exclaimed, "What I mean is, is that knightmare one of ours? And if it is, why wasn't I alerted about it?"

"Alerted about what?" the voice of Lloyd Asplund asked behind her followed by Cecile Croomy his assistant.

"Asplund, why wasn't I alerted about this test run?!" Cornelia demanded.

The Earl blinked, "Test run? I don't recall authorizing a test to run on any knightmares." he took the binoculars from the soldier next to Cornelia to see for himself as Cecile pulled out one of her own.

"I don't believe that knightmare is our own Viceroy," Cecile informed Cornelia, "and if it is the Engineering Corps wasn't aware of it… Lloyd?"

The Earl slowly lowered the binoculars. His mouth was open with his tongue hanging out and eyes sparkling with stars, drool descending down his chin. "I don't know whose that is… but I want it."

o~o

The blue lion landed on the ground once more and began bounding around like a mountain lion. Everyone inside the head held onto something as the ride continued.

"Isn't this awesome?!" exclaimed Rivalz with a large grin.

"Make it stop!" yelped Shirley, who starting to look a little green, "Make it stop!"

"I'm not making it do anything, it's like it's on autopilot!"

Suddenly, the lion's back legs fired it off the ground and the lion descended into the sky.

"Rivalz!" shouted Lelouch, "Where are you going?!"

"I just said it's on autopilot," he explained, "it says there's an alien ship approaching Earth, I think we're supposed to stop it!"

"What did it say exactly?" Milly demanded.

"Well, it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain… kind of!"

"Wait, if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just like, I don't know, give to them, maybe they'll leave us alone?" Shirley suggested, "Sorry lion, nothing personal."

"Or we end up giving it to them, and they turn on our planet!" Lelouch argued, "This the first time we're contacting other life outside Earth, we have no way of knowing if they're hostile or not. If we give this to them, maybe not even the Britannian Empire can stop them."

Everyone seemed to agree with Lelouch's statement, even Suzaku, who were all glaring at Shirley. Her eyes widen in realization at that possibility and had the decency afterward to look a little sheepish.

"Oh… nevermind then."

It wasn't long before the lion exited Earth's atmosphere and entered open space. The group didn't have time to admire the stars though as moments later a large purple ship with illuminating purple lights appeared in front of them like a bolt of lightning, and twice as fast.

"Holy Britannia! Is that really what I think it is?!" Rai shouted in fear and astonishment at seeing a real alien ship.

After floating and observing the ship for a few seconds, the ship started firing purple lasers at them.

"We need to get out of here!" Milly ordered, sounding uncharacteristically frightened.

"Hang on!" shouted Rivalz as he pulled on the controls and the lion flew off at top speed. Even though Rivalz had little to no idea what he was doing, it seemed the lion knew what to do as it maneuvered and dodged all the attacks with little to no effort.

"Okay, I think I know what to do!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Rivalz, be careful!" shouted Suzaku, "This isn't a simulator!"

"And you don't think I know that Suzaku?!" he replied as he helped maneuver the lion around the lasers. He then pushed down on one of the control levers and the lion's mouth opened wide and fired a powerful blue beam directly at the side of the ship. It sliced through it like a sword, causing massive explosions.

"Let's try this!" Rivalz smiled as he flew the lion closer to the ship, scrapping the lion's claws on the other side leaving deep gashes, causing explosions as well.

"Nice job Rivalz!" Lelouch praised.

"Okay, I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet!"

o~o

"Lord Zarkon, the escaped prisoner and his people found the lion. It attacked us and is heading out of the system," the captain of the warship reported to the overlord on the computer screen. The shadowy figure on the other side narrowed his eyes.

"Follow that lion and alert all ships in the area to intercept. Capturing that lion is your first and only priority."

"Yes, your majesty. Full power, after the lion."

o~o

"Oh no!" Milly gasped as the ship started picking up speed behind them.

"They're gaining on us!" Kallen exclaimed.

Lelouch's eyebrows furrowed, "It's weird, they're not trying to shoot us. They're just chasing!"

"Okay seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I'm not on board with this new direction guys!" Shirley exclaimed.

"Where are we?" asked Milly looking around.

"Edge of the Solar System," Rai gasped in awe looking at a distant moon to the side, "That's Keroberos, Pluto's moon!"

"That's impossible!" Suzaku exclaimed, "It takes the most advanced spaceships decades to get out this far! We got out here in five seconds!"

Suddenly, what appeared to be a swirling, sparkling wormhole, like a vast swirling ocean.

"What is that?!" Shirley nearly shrieked at the sight of it.

"Uh, this might seem crazy but I think the lion wants us to go through there!" Rivalz explained hastily.

The gang looked at the vortex. There was no telling what was on the other side of it. There could be more danger. Despite these possibilities though, they're instincts were telling all of them to go. But they all knew that whatever was on the other side was important, and something that they needed to know desperately.

"Where does it go?" Kallen asked Rivalz.

"I-I don't know… Lelouch what should we do?"

"Why are you asking me? Ask Milly, she's student council president."

"You're more experienced with this than I am Lelouch. You're the chess master, not me, so what's the best move to make right now?"

Lelouch stared at Milly in shock for a second, realizing she was talking about in her hidden message. As much as he wanted to deny it, he was still technically a Prince of Britannia, and now it was time to act like one. He furrowed his eyebrows as his brain worked on overdrive. If they went through that wormhole, there was no telling if they would come back. A minute on the other side of that wormhole could equal a century or more on Earth. Though the opposite was possible as well. He had left Nunnally behind, and while he trusted Sayako to keep her safe, once word got out about the seven of them being missing, his identity as Lelouch vi Britannia could be exposed. Should his face make it on the news, Cornelia, Euphemia, Jeremiah, or someone else from the military could recognize him and there'd be Britannia soldiers swarming Ashford Academy faster than he could say "I am Zero!"

Not to mention that the Black Knights would be awaiting further orders from him ever since they made their debut at the hotel jacking just over two weeks ago. Since then, they haven't done much but 'assist' the police in taking out drug cartels and exposing corrupt politicians and businessmen, but he could tell that they were all anxious to take their 'Knights of Justice' charade a step further, and without him they could possibly do something rash and ruin everything. But from what he could tell, Ohgi, whom he had placed as second in command, seemed to be the most level-headed of the Black Knights and wouldn't take too many risky chances. It appeared he had no choice but to trust them until he and Kallen got back.

However, if he found out what this lion, and it's other pieces were capable of, and convinced the others, including Suzaku, to help him, he could use this 'Voltron' to defeat Britannia. Not to mention that there seemed to be little to no chance that the lion was willing to turn around and go back to Earth even if they tried, not to mention that if they did manage to turn around, the aliens would no doubt follow them, and possibly invade Earth, endangering not only Nunnally and Japan but the whole world as well.

Once everything was thought over, there was really no choice in the matter.

Clenching his teeth in frustration he finally spoke, "Whether we like it or not, the lion seems to know more about what's going on than we do. Besides, I doubt we can force this thing to turn around, not to mention that those aliens will follow us back to Earth as this lion seems to be their target. From the way things look, we're going to have to trust it. But if we're in this together, we should decide as a group."

Everyone took a moment to look at one another, all of them, though some reluctantly, seemed willing to go through with this, after all, they wouldn't be alone in this.

Rivalz sighed, "Alright, guess we're all ditching class tomorrow."

With that said, Rivalz urged the lion towards the wormhole, which almost immediately upon entering, closed behind them, the alien ship pursuing them missing it by seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to mention this last chapter but Rai's voice actor for my story is going to be Vic Mignogna, just imagine Edward Elric's tone and voice.


	3. Rise of Voltron Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrive at Castle of Lions, Allura and Coran appear, and Student Council suspicious of C.C.

Everyone within the lion held onto the walls and chair for dear life as they traveled at breakneck speeds through the wormhole. They were going so fast it felt like their skin was peeling off. Out of all of them, Rivalz strangely seemed to be the calmest. Fortunately, it didn't last long as the lion exited the wormhole seconds later, which closed behind them. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Woah…" Rivalz muttered, "That was-"

Before Rivalz could complete his sentence Shirley couldn't hold her lunch any longer and immediately threw up to the side of the control panel, making everyone cringe in disgust, Milly and Kallen even wrinkled their noses to block the smell as they were the closest to the poor girl. "Sorry," she muttered in embarrassment before hurling again.

"I'm surprised you took this long Shirley," Milly commented with sympathy, still wrinkling her nose.

"I don't recognize any of these constellations…" Suzaku observed, "we must be a long, long way from Earth."

"The lion seems to want to go to this planet," Rivalz informed them as they approached a planet that looked very similar to Earth, "I think-I think it's going home."

With a burst of speed from the lion, it soared towards the lush planet full of forests, mountains, and oceans almost identical to Earth. Unfortunately, the group didn't have time to enjoy the scenery as they were once again holding on for dear life as the lion descended. Lelouch and Milly were holding onto the back wall while the others were hanging onto Rivalz's pilot seat.

"Guys, personal space! Rai your breath is killing me!" he complained.

"Uh, is it just me, or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?" Shirley asked, "Why are we even listening to a robotic lion anyway?!"

"It got us away from that alien warship didn't it?" Rivalz pointed out.

"I don't know if you noticed," Kallen hissed, "but we're _in_ an alien warship!"

"What's up with you Kallen? You don't normally act like this." Milly noticed with a raised eyebrow of suspicion.

Kallen growled, "Look, I'm frustrated with this situation and terrified because Rivalz is the one flying this thing!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Everyone knock it off!" Lelouch exclaimed, "No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now!"

"Lelouch's right," Suzaku agreed, "if we're going to get through this, we need to do it together!"

"So, what do we do?" asked Rai.

"First we need to know where we're going," Lelouch deduced, "Rivalz?"

"I… don't know," Rivalz admitted. He looked around at the others who were staring at him, "I'm sorry the lion's not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shhh! Listen. I think I hear something."

"I'm hearing it too," Milly said.

"Yeah," Shirley said, "it sounds like a… high-pitched squeal…" The group got their message to the noise as Rivalz's fart finally made itself present.

Disgusted reactions emanated from the group as they all covered their mouths and noses to block out Rivalz's fart as the boy himself smirked in amusement.

"But seriously, there's a castle up ahead," Rivalz said. Everyone looked up as the mechanical lion approached a mountaintop overlooking a vast ocean. The mountain itself seemed to form around large white metallic building consisting of seven spires, with cyan blue outlines and windows. The formation made it look like a mystical castle from the Middle Ages of Britannia with a few touches of the empire's futuristic knightmare frame tech. As they descended closer, the group couldn't help but look in awe as the sun seemed to shine off the castle making look like pure silver. It felt like they had stepped into a fairytale of old, and judging from everything that had happened to them so far, wouldn't be too far-fetched.

The lion slowly descended towards the castle, as its eyes glowed a bright yellow, followed by the cyan blue lights of the castle lighting up as well. The lion landed at what appeared to be the entrance to the castle, and bent down with an open mouth, waiting for its passengers to exit.

"Everyone, keep your guard up," Lelouch warned them.

"Something wrong?" asked Milly.

"No, Lelouch is right," Suzaku agreed, "we were already attacked by aliens once already, we don't want that to happen again."

The group of seven cautiously exited the lion and looked around, taking in the landscape. Then suddenly the lion jolted and stood back up.

"No, no! I knew it was going to eat us! No!" Shirley shrieked as she leaped behind Lelouch. Instead of eating them though, the lion simply roared at the door loud enough to shake the ground. The door, however, glowed cyan blue in its outlines and opened, kicking up dust as it did so. It wasn't long before the castle was free to be entered.

The group looked at the entrance in a mixture of shock and awe as Shirley peaked out from behind Lelouch.

"Oh, the door is open," she spoke robotically in realization before turning to face the lion, "guess I was wrong about you."

Deciding not to waste the opportunity to investigate, the group cautiously entered the castle. It was pitch black save for a few faint outlines of cyan blue along the walls, floor, and ceiling. Despite this, it was still hard to see where they were going, so they constantly bumped into each other.

"Hello?" Shirley tentatively called out after wandering around for a while. The group stopped and stared at her as if she was crazy. What if whoever was in here was dangerous? She could've just given their location away.

"You know," observed Rai as the group came to a stop at a stairwell, "from the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger…"

Suddenly the room illuminated with a blue beam that shined down on the group, allowing for more of the castle's layout to be visible. The room they were in appeared to be a ballroom of sorts with the stairwell in front and glowing lanterns off to the side.

"Hold for identity scan." a computerized voice spoke as rays of blue light and mist rose up from the floor, rolling over their bodies in a scanning motion. It felt like they were being covered in a warm blanket as it ran over them.

"Why are we here?" Lelouch demanded as the scan finished its job, "What do you want with us?!"

The computer didn't answer. Instead, the same mist that surrounded them during the identity scan rose up and filtered into the unlit lanterns that lined the walls, illuminating a path that led out of the ballroom.

"I guess we're going that way," Suzaku said before following Lelouch.

The further the group walked down the halls of the castle, the more 'mist lights' seemed to turn on as if guiding them somewhere.

"Hello?" this time Milly's voice echoed throughout the castle after a while of walking. As they went further into the castle, Milly, Shirley, and even Rai seemed to take turns calling out into the darkness, hoping for signs of life.

The group walked through hallway after hallway and descended or ascended staircase after staircase until they finally reached what appeared to the center of the castle. The metallic doors leading inside slid open for them. It led to a large circular room with the center a few inches taller than the rest of the floor, and identical circles surrounding it. A central control panel stood at the head of it. Surrounding it were several pod-like objects, all with the same cyan blue outlines that matched the rest of the castle's decor.

"Where are we?" asked Rivalz, speaking for the first time since entering the castle.

"This is some kind of… control room!" Rai exclaimed in realization as the central control panel's buttons suddenly lit up. Gears shifted and steam emerged from one side of the room, along with the sound of sliding doors opening. Two pod-like structures emerged from the floor. The windows were partially transparent, allowing the group to at least see the outlines of two people inside of them. From what could be found, it appeared to be a man and a woman.

"These-these two aren't dead are they?!" Shirley asked, mildly freaked out.

Shirley soon got her answer as the pod suddenly glowed and steam billowed from beneath it. The blue shell that surrounded the figure seemed to dissolve into sparkles or stardust fully revealing the woman inside.

The woman inside wore a long blue and white dress, had dark colored skin, sea-foam colored hair that descended in long waves down her back, pink crescent shapes around her eyes, as well as pointy elf-like ears with purple triangle shaped earrings. And to top it off, she had a golden circlet diadem around her forehead. She looked very similar to some elfish people found in some popular video games on Earth.

The woman's eyes snapped open as she gasped, extending her hand as if to grab something that was in front of her, even though nothing was there.

"Father!" She cried as she stumbled out of the pod, and would've fallen if Rivalz hadn't rushed over to catch her.

The woman groaned, gripping Rivalz's arms to balance herself and looked up drowsily at the man that caught her.

Now that Rivalz had a good look at her face, he saw that the woman was actually quite beautiful. He blushed before flashing her one of his trademark smiles. "Well hello there~" trying to act charming.

"Who are you? Where am I?" the woman asked, speaking in a thick Britannian-like accent that would have made several of Lelouch's half-siblings jealous.

"I'm Rivalz, and you're right here in my arms," he answered smoothly. The woman looked up at him curiously.

"Your… ears."

He raised an eyebrow and looking in the direction of the body part, "Yeah…?"

"They're hideous," she said bluntly, as she stood on her own two feet he took a small step away from him, still staring at his eyes in disgust, "what's wrong with them?"

"Nothing's wrong with them!" Rivalz exclaimed defensively, "They heard exactly what you said about them-whoa!"

Rivalz was caught by surprise as the woman suddenly gripped his ear, twisted him around and forced him onto his knees as she also held his right arm behind his back. For a slim looking woman, she was incredibly strong, and Rivalz had to fight back tears because of how hard she was holding his ear.

"Who are you?!" the woman demanded, "Where is King Alfor?! What are you doing in my castle?!"

"A giant blue lion brought us here! That's all we know!" Rivalz cried out, struggling not to break down in tears, though it was extremely hard not to with how hard his ear was being held. His suffering finally came to an end though as the woman let go and addressed the other student council members.

"How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin?" she asked, "What are you all doing here? Unless… How long has it been?"

"Look, lady, we don't know what's going on or what the hell you're talking about!" Kallen exclaimed defensively.

"Can you tell us who you are?" asked Lelouch a little more cordially, "Maybe we can help you."

"I am Princess Allura of planet Altea." she answered as she approached the central control panel, "I've got to find out where we are, and how long we've been asleep." Allura put her hands on both sides of the control panel, which lit up in bright cyan blue and a translucent screen appeared in the center of it.

"Okay," Suzaku said looking at the screen along with Rai, "that's how that works."

Suddenly the second pod opened as well, to reveal a tall, white-skinned man with orange hair and a bushy mustache, pointed elf-like ears and blue markings at the corners of his eyes. He gasped as he saw Rivalz.

"Ah! Enemy combatants!" the man exclaimed as he jumped from his pod and attempted to jump kick Rivalz, who easily shifted out of the way. This resulted in the nearly falling to the floor, but he managed to regain his balance by holding onto Allura's sleeping pod.

"Whoa, quiznack! You're lucky I have a case of the old 'sleep chamber knees.'" the man also spoke in a think Britannian accent just like Allura, "Otherwise, I'd grab your head like this, wrap you up like so - and one, two, three - sleepy time!" he said, demonstrating everything with hand gestures and snapped his fingers at the end.

"Oh yeah?" Rivalz smiled smugly, "Well before you did that, I'd," he jumped and kicked into the air in a mediocre karate move, "like that."

"Oh really? Well, how could you do that when I've already come at you with this? Ha, ha, ha, hey!" the man retaliated with fake karate moves of his own, which didn't seem to intimidate Rivalz in the slightest.

"Rivalz," Lelouch groaned in annoyance and embarrassment at the display.

"It can't be," Allura suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" the man asked, suddenly alarmed.

"We've been asleep for ten thousand years!"

o~o

Everything was in flames around them. It was their 'final' battle against Zarkon, the leader of the Galra, and the Alteans had lost horribly. A purple battleship approached the castle as the face of their enemy appeared on the computer screen before them.

"Zarkon!" King Alfor growled.

"Your fleet has been destroyed Alfor, I will be there shortly to claim Voltron."

As the screen switched off, a massive purple laser shot at the castle, damaging it greatly. The castle quickly lost power.

"Father," Allura spoke to the man before, "we must form Voltron and fight before it's too late!"

"It's already too late," the king replied, "we must send the Lions away, we can't risk them falling into Zarkon's hands!"

"We can't give up hope!" Allura exclaimed desperately, hoping to change her father's mind.

"I'm sorry daughter," the king approached Allura, placing a hand on her cheek lovingly, "if all goes well, I shall see you again soon."

The last thing Allura remembered before blacking out was seeing her father's face and his voice telling her he loved her.

o~o

Allura grit her teeth, "Planet Altea and all the planets in our Solar System, have been destroyed! Coran, father is gone, our entire civilization… Zarkon!"

"Zarkon?" everyone questioned semi-unison.

"He was the king of the Galra," Allura explained, "a vile creature, and an enemy to all free people!"

Before anyone else could comment on this, Rai suddenly gasped and then yelled, holding his head like he was in immense pain. His left eye also burned in agony for a moment as if reacting to the pain. He could hear the muffled voices of his classmates exclaim in worry as he collapsed onto his knees. Images he'd long forgotten flashed through his mind, along with the terrifying face of a monster. And suddenly, Rai remembered.

"Rai!" Shirley asked urgently, kneeling down by the blonde, "Rai, are you okay."

"Yeah…" Rai muttered, "I-I remembered something!"

This caught everyone's attention, especially Lelouch and Milly's as they were the ones who originally found him in his amnesiac state.

"What did you remember?" asked Lelouch in curious urgency.

"That Zarkon guy… I was his prisoner!" he revealed as he gritted his teeth in hatred.

Everyone gasped at this. How was this possible? And if it was true how did Rai escape and end up at Ashford of all places?

"Are you absolutely sure Rai?" asked Milly.

"Positive." was the response.

"He's still alive?!" Allura exclaimed in shock, "Impossible!"

"I can't explain it but it's true! He's searching for a superweapon called Voltron!"

"He's searching for it because he knows it is the only thing that can defeat him," Allura explained, "and that's exactly why we must find it before he does."

o~o

Levitating purple crystals glowed in a way they hadn't in millennia. A hunched figure gasped as if she had been holding her breath for a long period of time. The woman emerged from the chamber, her eyes a bright yellow and dark indigo skin with her face dipped with red markings that descended from her eyes and long white hair flowing down behind her hood.

"The Blue Lion has returned," she reported approaching the man who stood by a window of the ship, proudly gazing at his fleet of ships, "and now I sense a resurgence of Altean energy."

"Alfor's daughter lives… how?" Zarkon asked, turning to the woman for answers.

"I know not… but it is time to reclaim what is rightfully ours."

"Yes, I shall wipe that foul race from the universe forever, and take back Voltron. Contact my commanders."

o~o

At another area of the universe, a few hours away from the planet Arus, where Allura's castle rested, another Galra ship was patrolling the area. The commander inside was just reattaching his mechanical arm when he was called for an audience with Zarkon.

"Commander Sendak, the Princess of Altea is alive and is hiding in your sector, we believe she alone knows the whereabouts of the remaining Lions. Your battle fleet is the closest to her location. Retrieve her and the Lions. With them all, the Galra Empire will be unstoppable." Zarkon ordered.

"I fight for the empire," Commander Sendak replied, on bended knee, "I conquer in the name of Galra. No foe has ever stood in my way and none ever will. Vrepit sa! Set a course for Arus."

o~o

"Princess you must eat," Coran said, "it's been ten thousand years!"

"I'm not hungry,"

"Wait, ten thousand years?" questioned Rivalz, "That's like one thousand plus ten."

"That's times ten Rivalz." Kallen corrected.

"Whatever!" he shrugged.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast and I starving," Shirley said, eying the weird green alien food hovering in front of them. It didn't look like the most appetizing thing in the world, looking more like mashed up veggies covered in boogers than anything else.

"Yeah, but you've thrown up at least five times," Milly pointed out in slight disgust.

"That's true," she nodded. Unable to hold back her appetite anymore, she tentatively picking off some of the goo and tried it. The taste wasn't terrible (it didn't taste amazing either though), but the texture was definitely something to get used to. Shirley nearly gagged as the substance seemed to slide down her throat like a slimy avocado.

As Shirley was sampling the Altean food, Lelouch, Rai, and Suzaku took a moment to truly admire the details of the palace. It was simply extraordinary and far more beautiful than anything the Britannians could put together. The technology was so advanced they might as well had stepped into a sci-fi movie. At the same time though, they could definitely sense something supernatural about the castle, almost like it was alive.

"I can't believe your civilization made such advanced technology ten thousand years ago." Suzaku said in awe, "It must have been an incredible place."

"Yes, it was," Coran said sadly, "but now it is gone and we're the last Alteans alive."

Allura's eyes flooded with tears as she hugged Coran, sobs racking her body. Lelouch clenched his fists, not out of anger towards Allura, but more to himself for choosing to leave Nunnally. True the circumstances gave him little to no choice, but he may have been able to figure out something had he thought hard enough. He wouldn't be able to hold Nunnally the way Coran was holding Allura for a very long time now, if ever.

The two separated though when a squeaking sound came from the sleeping pod. She gasped in delight at seeing a small group of Altean mice waving and smiling at her. "Looks like we're not the last after all."

This was short lived though as the control panel suddenly started beeping in alarm. One of the screens glowed a bright red as a screen opened to reveal a purple Galra ship slowly approaching the planet.

"A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!" Coran gasped.

"How did they find us?" Allura asked, holding the mice in her hands.

"Did they follow us!?" asked Rai in alarm.

"No they didn't," said another female voice coming from the control room entrance. Turning to the sound, and the group saw a green-haired woman with golden-yellow eyes wearing what appeared to be a loose straight jacket with its buckles undone.

Suzaku recognized her immediately, "Hey! You're that-"

"C.C.," Lelouch interrupted Suzaku, "what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I snuck onto that lion when you weren't looking. And must agree with Kallen on this one Rivalz, you're flying could use some work."

"Lelouch, who's this?" Milly asked suspiciously.

"This is C.C. We're... uh…"

"Accomplices," C.C. replied nonchalantly, "and as for why I'm here, I thought I made it perfectly clear to you, Lelouch, that I don't let my contractors die, hence why I'm accompanying you."

"Contractor? Lelouch, what's she talking about," Shirley asked accusingly.

"We can discuss that later," C.C. answered before Lelouch could, "if I'm not mistaken, we have an alien ship about to attack this castle correct? How long before they arrive exactly?"

Suzaku gave both C.C. and Lelouch a look that clearly said 'we WILL discuss this later,' along with similar looks from most of the others, Allura and Coran included.

Coran though did answer C.C.'s question, "At their speed, let's see... carry the two...I-I'd say maybe a couple of days?"

"Good," Allura said with a determined look before looking at the seven Britannians, Honorary, Half-Blooded, and Full-blooded, "let them come, by the time they get here, you seven will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire."

"Princess," Lelouch said, getting right down to business, "if there are seven of these lions, how are we going to find the rest?"

Allura didn't say anything as she put the mice back on the floor and walked towards the center of the room. A large crystal directly above her head shone down with a brilliant blue light around her. She closed her eyes in concentration.

"King Alfor connected the Lions to Allura's life force," Coran explained, "she alone is the key to the Lions' whereabouts."

Allura's eyes suddenly opened again and the blue beam expanded around her as a result, separating into multiple particles surrounding the room and engulfing everyone in it. The lights dimmed allowing only the blue lights to be visible. That is when everyone realized that the particles were actually stars. They were standing in a 3-D model of the entire universe.

"These are… coordinates!" Rai suddenly realized, seeing all the stars and planets floating around them.

"Hey look," Suzaku said, seeing an image of the Blue and Black Lions side by side on one of the planets, "the Black Lion looks like in the same location as the Blue Lion."

"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage," Coran commented, seemingly quite impressed how smart this simple human truly was. Suzaku seemed to catch on to what Coran was saying though, and to put it simply, he wasn't that amused.

"Very observant," Allura said with a warm smile, "that's because the Black Lion is in the castle."

"To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle," Coran explained, "it can only be freed if the other six lions are present."

"As you've found, the Lions choose their pilots," Allura further explained, "it is a mystical bond, and can not be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in their lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain."

The princess moved her hand swiftly, having the coordinates move in one direction as if on a computer screen, the image of the Black Lion floated in front of them, "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader, and in control at all times. Someone whose men will follow without hesitation, but also one who as the temperance to wait and know when to take action. That is why Lelouch, you will pilot the Black Lion."

Allura waved her hand again, and this time the image of a green lion appeared, next to a planet that seemed to be covered in lush green jungle. "The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring, one who is not only willing to seek the truth but also be willing to share it with others and not flaunt it. Rai, you will pilot the Green Lion."

"The Blue Lion," Rivalz smirked cockily at the mention of his lion, "is the most confident and friendliest of the Lions. Relying on optimism of the situation and having a charitable heart to keep the team together. As you already do, Rivalz, you will pilot the Blue Lion."

"Called it!" Rivalz smirked.

"The Orange Lion is caring and kind," Allura continued as the image of another lion appeared by what looked more like a meteor than a planet, and hovered in front of Shirley, "its pilot is the one who puts the needs of others above their own and is patient with their comrades. Their heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."

"Me?!" Shirley squeaked in alarm, pointing to herself.

"The Yellow Lion is the most diligent of the Lions," a yellow lion appeared by a planet that seemed to shine like stars by Milly, "knowing when goals must be accomplished and when. But it also cares for how it is done. When the other lions become reckless, the pilot is there to ground them and keep focused on their goal. Milly, the pilot of the Yellow Lion will be you." Milly hummed in thought, as the lion did seem to match her personality in the 'getting things done' department.

"The Purple Lion is the most honorable of the Lions and will always do what it believes to be the right thing," Allura said as she materialized the image of the Purple Lion, though it wasn't connected to any coordinates, "That is also why it is one of the more difficult ones to pilot. The one who does must be someone who is not ashamed of their beliefs and is willing to stay true to them as well. Because of this, Suzaku, the Purple Lion will be piloted by you."

At the mention of beliefs and values, no one, except C.C., noticed how Lelouch seemed to glare subtly at Suzaku. It appeared he was still bitter about how Suzaku refused to join the Black Knights after they went through the trouble of rescuing him.

'This could become a problem,' C.C. thought to herself.

"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master, but when it is, it remains the most loyal to its pilot out of all of the other lions," just like with the Purple Lion, Allura allowed the Red Lion to materialize, but it wasn't connected to any coordinates, "it's faster and agiler than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone," the Red Lion hovered in front of Kallen, "Kallen, you will pilot the Red Lion."

"What?!" exclaimed Shirley in disbelief, along with most of the other student council members, "Kallen? Seriously?!" Though their disbelief was understandable, as Kallen had yet to reveal that 'Kallen Stadfeld' was just a front and that she was really Kallen Kozuki, a terrorist, and elite knightmare pilot.

"Unfortunately, I can not locate the coordinates to the Red or Purple Lions yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years, it might need to some work."

"Don't worry, we'll find them soon," Coran said, "they don't call me 'the Coranic' for nothing… It's because it sounds like 'mechanic', so uh… Coranic… Mechanic. It's not- it doesn't sound exactly like it, it's similar."

All seven of the lions suddenly came to life, roared, before running around their respective pilots and shooting off into the sky like shooting stars. Everyone shielded their eyes as the lights of the castle allowed Arus's natural light to enter the room. They watched in awe as the legendary hero himself stood before with all the colors of their respective lions, the head of the black lion revealing his face, wielding a magnificent sword.

"Once all the Lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known. The Defender of the Universe!"

The image of the warrior vanished into sparkles, leaving everyone watching in shock, wonder, and even a little fear. Though the robotic warrior was far more impressive than any knightmare frame model they've seen, it was still intimidating to know that the seven of them would be the ones piloting it. Even Suzaku was nervous even though he was the pilot of one of the most advanced knightmare frames in the world right now. Sure the Lancelot he could handle, but a giant robotic lion? Would it feel the same way or not?

"Awesome!" Rivalz exclaimed as a brief moment of silence.

"Wait. Okay, so we're going to be in there and flying lions," Shirley spoke, "got that part. How do I insert in the legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? And if it is, should I use the toilet first? You guys have those right?"

"We don't have much time," Lelouch said, taking command as he was to be the 'leader' of Voltron, "Milly and I will go after the Yellow Lion. Rivalz, you take Shirley and get the Orange one," he glanced at C.C., "C.C., will you go with Rai and get the Green Lion?"

"If I must," the immortal shrugged nonchalantly.

"Suzaku, Kallen, you two stay here. When you find the Purple and/or Red Lions go get them." the two of them nodded in understanding.

"In the meantime, I'll get the castle's defenses ready," Allura said, "they'll be sorely needed."

"I'll ready some pods, and load in the coordinates so you can reach the Green and Yellow Lions," Coran spoke as he proceeded to do just that.

Milly, Lelouch, Rai, and C.C. followed Coran to the pods that he prepared for their journeys. They had sleek silver vehicle outlines with neon blue around the edges that seemed to be a trademark of the castle. While they loaded in, Shirley and Rivalz returned to the Blue Lion.

After the two groups got settled in the pods, he handed Milly and Rai a device, "These are the coordinates for the Lions you'll be looking for. Once you land, they should lead you right to them."

Rai, being the most techno-savvy of the group pressed a blue button on the device. It caused a screen to pop up that had the image of the planet where the Green Lion was located. Milly followed the action, seeing where the Yellow Lion was.

Shortly after it wasn't long before the three teams were launched into the atmosphere of Arus, two in pods and the other in the Blue Lion. Lelouch and C.C. piloted the pods as Milly and Rai sat in the passenger seats. A computer screen soon appeared in front of them with Coran's face on it. The same happened for Shirley and Rivalz in the Blue Lion.

"We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other Lions open for about two of your Earth hours," Coran explained to them, as the wormholes opened in front of them, shimmering like the ocean in the evening "so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is, according to my readings, all three planets are relatively peaceful. So if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives."

"Wait, what?!/Say what?!/Come again?!" were the responses that followed, none of them realizing that Coran was joking as they could easily locate the Blue Lion, and the two pods also had tracking devices in them.

"Well enjoy the trip!"

"Wait a minute!/Hold on!/I did not receive the memo for this!" the protests were soon silenced as the pods and lion disappeared in the wormholes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed it and that this answered some questions you may have had. If there is anything that still isn't clear to you please let me know I'll answer it to the best of my abilities.
> 
> In case you haven't noticed, since there are seven lions this time, I added a little spin on them, they aren't of huge significance but it's still fun. Each lion here represents one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues. They are...
> 
> Black Lion: Temperance
> 
> Blue Lion: Charity
> 
> Green Lion: Humility
> 
> Orange Lion: Patience
> 
> Yellow Lion: Diligence
> 
> Purple Lion: Honesty (goes hand in hand with Chastity)
> 
> Red Lion: Loyalty (goes hand in hand with Kindness)
> 
> So yeah, it might change in the future, but for now the 'Seven Heavenly Virtues' won't hold a huge significance to the fanfic, just thought it would be fun to add. If you want to make a suggestion for how to incorporate them, I'm all ears though, I love hearing from you guys!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter. R&R!


	4. Rise of Voltron Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four of seven lions found and trouble ahead

Lelouch and Milly's planet almost looked like a giant diamond from afar, the entire planet's surface shined like a thirty-carat jewel on a wedding ring.

"Oh!" Milly swooned as the planet's sun glimmered off of it, "What I wouldn't pay to have that as my wedding ring."

"Milly focus," Lelouch chastised, "we're here to find a giant lion, not admire the scenery."

"Such a spoilsport Lulu," Milly slightly pouted but then became serious, "seriously though, who's that C.C. character. What sort of name is 'C.C.' anyway?"

"Milly-" Lelouch sighed in exasperation as they pod landed on the surface, "look… everything will be explained later, right now we need to focus on the objective."

Milly scoffed as the two exited the pod. The grass and vegetation that surrounded them shared the same glimmer and shining metallic glow as crystal, even some of the unique bugs they spotted scurrying in the grass sparkled the same way. Far off to the left appeared to be a city made out of the crystal spires if the hole-like windows within them were any indication.

"It's like we landed on a living diamond," Lelouch observed as Milly activated the device Coran gave to them, "at least the air breathable. Which way to the lion?"

"Um… this way looks like a few kilometers," Milly said as she started heading towards a bedazzled forest to the right.

"At least most of this is flat ground…" Lelouch muttered softly so Milly couldn't hear.

After about a half hour of walking along the forest path, they came across another crystal spire village, this time, however, they were close enough to spot some of the natives. They could make out three different types of people, one looked exactly like them, another had pointed ears very similar to Allura and Coran's species the only difference was that they had large feathered wings on their back in different colors from speckled to solid, and the third looked like some sort of water creature, with scales lining their arms and legs, webbed hands, and… were those gills on their necks? One thing that they all had in common though was that they all sparkled the same way that the crystal surrounding them did.

"Hope we're not trespassing like this…" Milly muttered nervously.

"Do we have to go through the village to get to the lion Milly?" Lelouch asked.

"Well," Milly said, looking at the map, "we can go around, but the fastest way is through the village, yes."

Lelouch bit his lip thinking about the best course of action. They had already been on the planet for a half-hour, they had no idea how much farther the lion was, "We have no choice, hopefully, they won't ask too many questions."

"What type of questions?"

Milly and Lelouch jumped at the voice from behind them. Turning around they saw that a fish-like and a bird-like native had somehow snuck up on them. They both had blue hair and gold eyes, the wings on the bird-like native a mix of mahogany and brown like a Kestrel.

"Are you two aliens?" asked the fish-like native asked innocently.

"Err… well," Lelouch blushed, not quite sure how to answer.

"Were you sent by the Great Lion?" asked the bird-like native after he saw the device in Milly's hands.

"The Great Lion?" asked Milly, suddenly interested where this was going.

"Uh-huh!" the boys nodded, the fish-like being continued, "the Great Lion lives on that hill on the other side of the village. No one knows how long she's been there, but just yesterday the light that surrounds he shined brighter than ever."

"The light that surrounds her?" Lelouch asked.

"Yup! Over yonder! The Lion's light protects our kingdom from the evil that curses the heavens." the bird-boy proclaimed.

Lelouch and Milly looked at one another, this certainly sounded like the Galra Empire. Had the Galra tried to attack this planet before? Did this lion really have some sort of power that kept the Galra away?

"Can you take us to this Great Lion?" Milly asked with a friendly smile, "My friend and I are actually here to see it."

"Why?" asked the fish-boy, "Why do you want to see the Great Lion?"

"Well young man," Milly bent down on her knees and smiled 'that' smile. Lelouch instantly knew that Milly had this covered, "what if we told you that are more lions like your 'Great Lion' out there?"

The boys didn't answer, they only looked at the blonde in wonder. Was it true? Were there really more lions?

"And… what if we told you that the sisters of the 'Great Lion' need her help? And without her, the darkness that is kept from this world will spread to others? Once she has rejoined them, they can destroy this darkness forever and ever?"

"And you have come to bring the 'Great Lion' to her sisters?" asked the bird-boy.

"Yes," Lelouch joined in, "if you take us to her, we can reunite her with her sisters. Wouldn't you want to see your family again after thousands of years apart?"

This seemed to convince the two boys of how important the 'Great Lion' was, and if there were more of them out there, that meant more protection for their planet.

"Destroy the darkness? That would be a glorious day!" bird-boy exclaimed in excitement, before pulling Milly's hand, "Come! We'll take you to her!"

Lelouch and Milly smiled in accomplishment. This may be easier than they thought.

o~o

Just like Milly and Lelouch, C.C. and Rai were having little to no trouble on their planet either, but unlike the diamond planet, the planet they landed on was covered in thick forest and swamp filled with a large amount of familiar and unfamiliar flora and fauna.

As they exited the pod Rai led the way, keeping his eyes on the device at all times, although he did send curious glances at C.C. every now and again.

"Something on your mind?" she finally asked after Rai glanced at her for about the seventh time.

"Huh?!" Rai sputtered, nearly dropping the device, "Wh-what are you talking about."

"Well I'm sure you aren't glancing back at me just for giggles, this is about what happened back at the castle isn't it?"

"We-well yes, I-I mean you did just sneak onto the lion without us noticing and Lelouch and Suzaku are the only ones that seemed to recognize you so-"

"I've already told you that Lelouch and I will explain everything to you when we retrieve these lions. Better for it to be repeated once than multiple times, facts could get mixed up."

"I guess…" Rai muttered as they continued walking. They walked for about another ten minutes before the bushes to their right rustled. Rai jumped back in alarm before a creature leaped out before them that seemed to look like a mixture between a rabbit, chipmunk, and… caterpillar?

C.C. smirked, "Careful boy, I hear they can smell fear."

"Heh, guess I'm a little jumpy," Rai laughed.

They continued through the jungle until they came to a calm river. However, what Rai was more interested in was the canoe parked on the shore. It looked like any other ordinary canoe except that the head of it was in the shape of a roaring lion. They heard a moan to their left, turning to their left they saw what appeared to be an oversized sloth, almost as tall as Coran.

C.C. blinked in surprise at its size while Rai yelped and leaped behind her for cover. She rolled her eyes as if to say, 'Oh what a gentleman, letting the woman fight his battles.' The sloth didn't attack them though and only seemed to study them curiously as Rai peaked out from behind C.C's shoulder. Really, how dangerous could a sloth be anyway?

"It's just a… whatever that thing is…" Rai said.

"A giant sloth?" C.C. asked bluntly.

"...Maybe?"

The sloth then seemed to notice the device in Rai's hand before smiling and walking over to the canoe. It then made a gesture to follow him.

"I-I think he wants us to get in his canoe," Rai said.

"Then let's go," C.C. said as he walked towards the sloth. Seeing Rai's hesitation, C.C continued, "I think we can both agree that compared to everything that's happened to both of us, this is close to nothing."

Seeing her point Rai followed behind the green-haired witch to the canoe. Extending his paw like a gentleman the sloth helped C.C. into the canoe and Rai followed right behind. Once the two were settled the sloth began rowing the canoe gently down the river. As they proceeded down, more of the rabbit-squirrel-caterpillar critters popped out from the shrubbery surrounding them. They seemed to wave and sing to them in harmony as they glided along. C.C. couldn't help but giggle at how adorable they were and even Rai smiled as well. They entered a stone archway that led into a long tunnel and the top of the entrance had a very similar picture of a lion like the ones they first saw in the cave back on Earth. The sloth-thing certainly seemed to know why they were here and what they were looking for.

"I wonder if Lelouch, Milly, Rivalz, and Shirley are having as good a time as us?" Rai wondered out loud.

o~o

"WAAAAAHHHHH!"

"NONONONONONONONO!"

_Unlike_ Lelouch, Milly, C.C., and Rai, Shirley and Rivalz's planet was anything BUT peaceful! They had arrived on the asteroid shaped planet just as the others had but were almost immediately shot down by Galra fighter jets. Apparently, the 'peaceful' planet they had been sent to had been made into a mining colony for the Galra, and they just so happened to be trespassing. They were both currently screaming their heads off as Rivalz struggled to steer the Blue Lion out of range of the Galra lasers and missiles. However, it didn't take long for one of the missiles fired to hit the Blue Lion causing it to start crashing towards the surface. Fortunately, Rivalz managed to regain the Blue Lion's balance literally inches before they hit the ground, and the chase was at it again.

"I THOUGHT CORAN SAID THESE PLANETS WERE PEACEFUL?!" Shirley screamed hysterically.

"MAYBE 'PEACEFUL' MEANS SOMETHING ELSE IN ALTEAN!" Rivalz replied nearly in the same hysterics as Shirley.

After regaining balance once again, Shirley took a moment to activate the device with the coordinates. "Uh, according to these coordinates, we're right on top of the Orange Lion," she looked out the screen of the lion to see the opening to one of the mines that the Galra robots were heavily guarding, the lion had pulled up a zoomed-in image of the entrance, "It's below there where they're mining for the ore. They don't even know the Lion is there… or maybe they just got here and they're digging for the Lion? What do you think Rivalz?"

"Who cares, just go get it! I'm dropping you down there!"

Shirley paled, "Me? Down there? No, no, nononono…!" she shook her head vigorously.

Rivalz gritted his teeth, "Yes, I'll cover you!" he gripped the controls and soared towards the entrance, dodging the laser blasts left and right, and those that did hit did little to no damage to the lion's mechanical body. When it hit the ground, it charges towards the cave entrance, crushing robots beneath its paws in the process.

Shirley, however, was having a complete panic attack, "We-well what if the Orange Lion doesn't work? Wh-what if I- what if I can't get in the mine? What if I start crying? It's too late, I'm already crying!"

Rivalz could only send her a nervous, sympathetic look, "Sorry Shirley, no time for questions!" Rivalz then hit a button on the dashboard and Shirley disappeared into the floor screaming. It felt like one of those waterslides where the floor vanished beneath your feet before the ride began, and just the anticipation of waiting for the floor to open made Shirley absolutely hate those slides, but this felt ten times worse, considering that immediately after she was spat out of the Blue Lion's mouth onto the hard stone surface of the planet, narrowly avoiding hitting her head on a rock as she rolled to as stop at the cave's entrance.

A series of lasers immediately came shooting towards here, but they were quickly blocked by Rivalz and the Blue Lion. Scared out of her mind, but not wasting this distraction, she scampered to the platform that would lead her further into the mine. Fortunately, her dad had taught her how to hardwire a car in case hers didn't work for some reason, so it was easier for her to find the generator and start tampering with the electrical wires.

"Oh sure just drop me off on an alien planet, that's cool Rivalz, a great way to treat a lady," she angrily muttered to herself she picked and pulled wires, "it's only occupied with mean purple aliens that want to _kill_ me but whatever. Just ignore them and go connect with a big, orange mechanical cat! Easy-peasy! Yeah, that makes total sense! Perfect sense!"

At some point in her rambling, she managed to make the cart work as it jerked down into the mine. As it proceeded down, the tunnel began to light up in orange colored markings of a lion just like on Earth. As Shirley gazed at the images all of the fear she was feeling before began to fade away.

"Wow… cool!"

When the cart stopped at the bottom of the tunnel Shirley quickly rushed out and leaped behind a pillar that the Galra had put in place to keep the cave from collapsing. It seemed the Galra had already helped themselves at home on this planet. Along the walls of the tunnel though were more pictures of lions, it seemed that Shirley was in the right place. The roof above her shook as sounds of the fight above continued, it seemed Rivalz was keeping them busy for now but for how long?

"Okay, I'm in a giant hole. Now what Shirley?" she asked herself. If she remembered correctly, all Rivalz had to do was touch the lion drawings and then they started glowing. She didn't notice there were drawings on the floor as well until she stepped forward to reach the wall marking, unknowingly stepping on a floor drawing. The orange glow appeared once again, startling her. Turning around she saw two more lion drawings, the one she had stepped on and another further away from it. Then on the wall across from her appeared to end in a circular symbol on the wall.

"Oh… pretty! Now how do I get through that?" she asked herself before turning around to see a giant drilling machine becoming visible thanks to the cave's glow, "Hmm… that'll work!"

o~o

While Shirley got busy trying to get the drill to work, Rivalz and the Blue Lion were hit with another blast from the Galra cruisers. Rivalz prayed Shirley didn't take much longer as he was having a hard time keeping these guys at bay. Glancing back, Rivalz saw that one blast hit a little too close to the cave entrance, only to realize that they were aiming for that the entire time!

In desperation, he shot the Blue Lion into the air, which then used its tail cannons to blast them out of the sky.

' _Hurry up Shirley!'_

o~o

Back on Lelouch and Milly's planet, the two native children had led the pair to a path that led up the mountain. Lelouch groaned at a number of steps they would have to take just to get there. As they approached the steps though, Milly and Lelouch noticed that the two children had stopped moving, as if they were hesitant to keep going.

"Why'd you stop?" asked Lelouch.

"We are forbidden to go further than this," the bird-boy explained, "only those called by the Great Lion can climb the steps."

"And since you are the ones the Lion called, you must approach the steps." the fish-boy said.

Lelouch and Milly looked at each other with raised eyebrows. These people seemed a bit too superstitious even for them. Their trains of thought were cut short though when the steps to the stairs, particularly the pictures of the lions themselves started glowing a bright yellow. It left not just Milly and Lelouch in awe, but the native boys as well, and had they taken a step back from the mountain, they would have seen that the whole thing in its entirety was lighting up in bright yellow light.

"I think that's your cue, Milly…" Lelouch said as Milly nodded in agreement, before smiling and started skipping up the stone steps.

"The mountain has never done this before!" the bird-boy exclaimed in wonder.

"The Great Lion is excited!" the fish-boy added.

Lelouch could only smile at their innocence.

Milly was panting a little as she made it up the last flight of stairs. When she made it to the top though she saw that there wasn't anything there, only a large stone carving of the lion at the very center. Walking towards it, she hummed in thought. Shouldn't the lion be here?

Milly then yelped as the ground beneath her began to rumble, the craving of the lion lighting up and slipping apart the floor. Milly quickly leaped to one side avoid doing the splits. When the top was completely open, Milly looked apprehensively down, seeing only darkness. Raising her eyebrow, she expected to see the lion. She lifted her head and looked around, was something else supposed to happen?

Milly then shivered as she felt a soft purr echo from the hole, and immediately it filled with light so bright, Milly had to actually cover her eyes to not be blinded. Also, any apprehension that she felt before completely vanished as well as she grinned and leaped into the hole, knowing full well her lion was waiting for her.

"YAHOOOOOOO!"

Down below, Lelouch and the two children stumbled as the ground shook beneath them. Looking up they see that the top of the mountain might as well look like a separate sun. Finally, out of the 'sun' emerged a stunning yellow feline mecha emerged, the light itself seemed to radiate off of it. Lelouch could only smile while the two boys looked on, their eyes sparkling in awe. In the distance, in the village where the boys lived, a chorus of cheers filled the air.

o~o

Back on the 'meteorite' planet, below the surface, Shirley finally managed to get the drill thing to work and it wasn't long before the wall in front of her came tumbling down. Jumping off, she could stare in wonder at the sight in front of her. Just like with the Blue Lion on Earth, the Orange Lion was also within a forcefield of the same color. Its eyes glowed a bright yellow and seemed to have a little bit of red outlining on its plating. She also noticed that compared to the Blue Lion, this lion seemed to have much more armor on, reminding her of the more heavily armored Glasgow compared to the Sutherlands that were made more for close combat.

Out of everyone in the student council Shirley was definitely the one who got scared the easiest (besides Nina), however looking up at the lion, she strangely didn't feel fear at all, in fact, she felt completely safe and calm as if the Lion was assuring her of just that. Slowly, she began to approach the particle barrier that surrounded it.

"Okay you can do this," Shirley told herself as she got closer, she then, though feeling a little ridiculous doing so, waved at it, "Um… hi, I'm Shirley and I guess I'm supposed to be your pilot… so um… yeah, I'm going to get you out of here… I hope…"

Shirley honestly wasn't quite sure what to do. When they found the Blue Lion on Earth, all Rivalz had to do was tap on the particle barrier and POOF, the lion was free. She figured that would be a good place to start. So she tentatively tapped the barrier, and just like Rivalz, it reacted, glowing just as brightly as the one on Earth, releasing the Lion for the first time in a millennium.

o~o

Gritting his teeth, Rivalz spun in the air and proceeded to dive-bomb the Galra cruisers that continued to attack the cave. The Blue Lion let out a roar as it's jaws enclosed around the wing of one, ripping it off before it exploded. Hovering in the air, the lion continued to shoot down any cruisers it saw with its tail cannon. Turning back to see all his enemies though, their next action made Rivalz's blood run cold.

"Oh no!" he shouted as he saw several cruisers aiming all of their ammunition at the cave entrance and around it. They were going bury Shirley alive along with the Lion! Desperate, Rivalz raced after them, shooting as many down as he could, but one missile managed to be fired just as the cruiser was destroyed, and there was no stopping its trajectory!

"SHIRLEY!" Rivalz screamed in horror as the missile made contact with the entrance, causing a massive explosion, thick black and red clouds of smoke filling the area, blocking the view of what really happened. Sweat dripped down Rivalz neck and his eyes could only look in horror as it finally cleared to not only reveal that the entrance had been sealed…

But half the mountain had collapsed into itself.

o~o

For Rai, it felt like the river they were on went on for miles as and miles, and if there was one thing that Rai _did_ know, even in his partially amnesiac state, was that he absolutely hated waiting! And when he was forced to wait, thoughts would start forming in his head with no control whatsoever, like a mob of hungry koi fish receiving their daily meal.

"I know the princess said that this is supposed to be _my_ lion, but what if she's wrong? I-I mean, she's probably not wrong, she's a _princess_ , but I've never driven a knightmare, although I've always wanted to drive one, I read all of the fighter manuals, I know _that_ for sure, but I've never got to go in a simulator, but hey I can't be _that_ bad I mean look at Rivalz, he got us all the way to that Arus planet and _he_ never piloted a knightmare before, at least I don't think he has-"

As the teen continued to ramble, the sloth looked at C.C. as if to ask 'Is he always like this?' in which C.C. only shrugged in response as she herself had never gotten close to Rai until now. The canoe, however, continued down the stream into another long cave with more lion carvings on the side and green moss growing along the walls.

"-but what if I get in there and it doesn't respond? What if I get in there and it's too big and my feet don't touch the pedals? WHAT IF THERE AREN'T EVEN PEDALS?!"

"Well if you keep rambling like that you're going to get more than just your tongue in a knot," C.C. said with an amused smirk. Rai blushed in embarrassment. C.C. continued, "I might not know much about this Voltron that Allura speaks of, but I do believe that you, Lelouch, and the others were brought here for a reason. If Allura believes the Green Lion is to be piloted by you, I see little reason to doubt her."

C.C. couldn't see Rai's face as his back faced her, but the teen now had a small smile of reassurance on his face, taking a little bit of comfort in her words. Before he could say thank you though, a small gasp appeared as they finally approached the end of the river. The path that led away from it was covered in thick curved vines and trees and in the middle was what appeared to be a large ancient temple also covered mostly in vines.

After the boat docked on the shore, the pair departed the waving thank you to the strange sloth that escorted them. They approached the stone temple, passing by two more large lion statues on the way. The markings on the ground they also saw started to glow a bright green as if sensing Rai's presence, creating a trail that led up the stairs of the temple.

As the two walked closer to the temple more markings appeared on the steps, until they led into the biggest cluster of vines at the top. Rai seemed completely entranced as they stopped at the bottom like something was calling to him. Rai then swallowed, hesitation still very present in his head.

"Well?" asked C.C., smirking and folding her arms, "What are you waiting for?"

Hearing C.C.'s 'encouraging' words, Rai quickly shook the nervousness away and ran at full speed up the steps to the top. After the stairs ended, he then proceeded to climb up the huge vines, some with quite a bit of difficulty because of how large they were. He was panting as hard as Lelouch would be after a light run when he finally reached the top. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Rai looked around, suddenly confused, there was nothing up her but vines.

Rai was about in disappointment a low growl was heard right below him. Looking down, he was soon greeted by a brightly glowing green light. He could literally feel the energy radiating from it. Grinning he leaped down into the mess of vines, the lights shining brighter after he landed.

"WHOO-HOO-HOOOOO!" he cheered.

Back on the ground, C.C. was leaning against the pillars that led up to the temple, when suddenly the ground beneath her shook and a loud roar filled the air, making her stumble at first. Looking up in bewilderment, she saw that at the top of the temple the vines had begun to glow and shake before they suddenly dispersed revealing a huge green lion rising in the air with glowing yellow eyes.

In spite of herself, C.C. couldn't help but give an impressed smirk as the wind blew her long green hair back.

"What did I tell you?"

o~o

Back on the meteorite planet, Rivalz was quickly beginning to panic. Now that the cave had been destroyed, presumably killing Shirley at the same time, the Galra forces stationed there were focusing all their firepower on him now as he struggled to outmaneuver them with the Blue Lion. Gritting his teeth, Rivalz attempted to turn around and fire at the ships again, only for the Lion to get shot down by more lasers. He was being completely overwhelmed!

"Oh no, no, no! Going down! We're going down!" Rivalz panicked as they crashed to the ground. In desperation, he pulled the controls as hard as he could, which managed to have the lion roll along the ground and land upright, but it was still fairly damaged as it attempted to rise. Red warning lights flashed everywhere inside the cockpit. Rivalz shook his head as he had been jostled during the fall, only to look through the screen to see several missiles heading towards him.

"Oh no!" he gasped. He could only close his eyes and look away, awaiting death and hoping it would be painless.

Just as the missiles were about to strike though, a large mechanical beast came shooting out of the ground, landing between the Blue Lion and the missiles, which promptly exploded on the impact of the new arrival. From the clouds of smoke, a massive Orange Lion came scampering out before leaping into the air and crushing the Galra cruisers beneath it, causing them to explode.

It stood up and turned to face the Blue Lion. "Rivalz, you okay?"

Rivalz gasped, "Shirley! I thought you were dead! You jumped in front of all those shots to save my life?!"

Promptly a screen appeared in front of Rivalz to show Shirley in the cockpit of the Orange Lion. It looked identical to the one Rivalz was in, except the seat, all of the gadgets and buttons inside were orange colored. She didn't appear to be hurt, if only a little frazzled, she must have been in the Lion already when the mountain caved in.

"Well, actually I was trying to get _out_ of the way. Thankfully, what this thing lacks in speed more than makes up for in armor. And man can it take a beating!"

The conversation was brought to a halt though when more Galra cruisers came flying down, shooting lasers at the two lions.

"We got incoming!" Shirley exclaimed, looking towards the shots with her lion.

The two prepared to engage the enemy again when another screen popped up, this time in both their lions. It was Allura. "Paladins! Please hurry back! I can't hold the wormhole much longer!"

Rivalz didn't need to be told twice, "Let's get out of here!" he exclaimed as he and Shirley blasted off into the air with their lions the wormhole straight ahead. About halfway there though, Shirley felt herself jolt forward as she was hit by one of the cruisers, causing her lion to spin as it continued upwards.

"Oh no not again!" she nearly wailed as she felt nausea begin again. She put her hand over her mouth in an attempt to keep the food down.

"Keep it together Shirley, the wormhole's closing!" Rivalz said, just as the lions made into them before it closed behind them.

o~o

The control room doors slid open as Shirley and Rivalz walked in, both groaning. Shirley was holding her head while Rivalz massaged his lower back. Lelouch, Milly, C.C., and Rai were already there waiting for them, alongside Suzaku, Kallen, Allura, and Coran.

"You made it!" Allura said with relief as they entered.

"Yeah," Rivalz said flexing his arm, "Just barely, that was a nightmare! I almost puked out there! I felt like Shirley!"

"Think how I felt," Shirley retorted, "I _am_ Shirley!"

"Yeah," Milly smiled, looking at Lelouch, "we had a tough time too," Lelouch smirked in amusement. C.C. rolled her eyes as Rai giggled a little.

"Did we find the Purple and/or Red Lions yet?" asked Lelouch.

"Allura just located it," Coran said, "there's a bit of good news and bad news. The Good news is that both lions are in the same place and nearby. The bad news is, they're onboard that Galra ship now orbiting Arus… but wait! Good news again, we're Arus!"

Lelouch's eyes widened in shock, as did everyone else's, "They're here already?!"

"I thought you said it would take them two _days_ to get here! Not two _hours!_ " Kallen exclaimed in anger.

"Apologies," Coran said, "it seems my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting is more of an art than a science."

His explanation though was cut short as a large screen appeared in front of them, drawing everyone's attention to it. The image that appeared showed a purple colored alien, one of the Galra. Much like the rest of his kind, he had purple fur and skin, long catlike ears, and in his right eye was what appeared to be a large round mechanical eye. His left eye had no pupil and was completely yellow. He had a strong muscular physique making him look very intimidating.

"Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire," the Galra addressed them, earning several gasps from many in the castle. Lelouch and Kallen were only ones who didn't seem afraid of them, only glaring at the Galra in defiance. The way he addressed them reminded Lelouch and Kallen far too much of the nobles of Britannia back home. The very thought made their blood boil.

Right there and then, Lelouch vowed he would do absolutely everything in his power to stop the Galra, even if it cost him his life.

"I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, ruler of the known universe. I am here to confiscate the Lions. Turn them over to me… or I _will_ destroy your planet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got inspiration on Milly and Lelouch's planet from the Crystal Empire from MLP. Just imagine the inhabitants having the same crystal design as the crystal ponies.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this! R&R!


	5. Rise of Voltron Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obtaining the Red and Purple Lion.

"Alright, let's not panic!" Lelouch said as soon as Sendak's transmission ended.

" _Not_ panic?" Shirley asked, her voice already shaking, "Th-the scary purple alien thing is driving his battleships toward us. We only got five lions-"

"Technically only four _working_ lions," Suzaku pointed out.

"That's right, thank you Suzaku. _Four_ working lions, and a castle that like ten thousand years old!"

"Actually, it's ten thousand, six hundred years old," Coran informed them and adjusted his collar as if about to give an important presentation. He always loved speaking about his proud family line, "you see it was built by my grandfather-"

"Thanks, Coran, thank you for that," Shirley interrupted, pinching Coran's lips shut, much to the man's shock and disappointment, "See? Now is the _perfect_ time to panic!"

"No, it isn't!" Milly argued back, "If anything now's the time to put our heads together and come up with a plan! We won't win this battle if act like a bunch of wild dogs chasing their tails."

"Wait!" Allura exclaimed in realization, "This castle has a particle barrier we can activate!"

"Okay," said Kallen, "and how long will _that_ hold?"

Coran pulled up an outline of the Galra ship on the screen in front of them. The main cannon on the ship was highlighted in red. "The barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last."

"Panic now?" asked Shirley, still trembling.

"No," Lelouch said firmly, "we just need to figure out our plan of attack, and figure it out fast." Lelouch's brain was working in overdrive to try and figure this out, but there were so many unknown factors even _he_ was having a hard time doing so. After all, this would technically be their first official battle with the Galra, he didn't count their scrimmage on Earth or Shirley and Rivalz retrieval mission since the first didn't really count as a 'battle', and Lelouch wasn't present in the later.

Rivalz spoke up, raising his hand, "I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day."

"I second that, yes," Shirley agreed immediately, "I mean we tried to find all the lions, right? Gave it the old college try, couldn't do it. We only have four, we can't form Voltron. I-I mean I guess we could form a snake? Or a worm! To go through the hole, Rivalz was talking about."

"Then it's settled," Rivalz said, before smirking flirtatiously at Allura, "Allura, you ride with me," he leaned his head towards Coran, "one of you take the old guy." Coran began fuming in rage at the comment.

"Wait! We can't just abandon Arus!" Rai protested, "The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them!"

"That may be true," Suzaku said, "but if you think about it, the Lions are ultimately the Galra's targets. If we leave Arus, the Galra may just follow us and leave the planet alone. That's what happened on Earth remember? There must be _some_ planets the Galra are willing to let be."

"Yeah!" Rivalz nodded, "Then we form the snake thingamajig and we sliver out of here!" He made slivering motions with his arms to emphasize.

Milly spoke, "But now Zarkon knows the Lions are back. Even if we _do_ run, how far will we get before they catch us, not to mention the number of planets and people he'll kill just to do it? It's only going to get more dangerous from here on out! Also, if I may add, judging by their complexion, those Galra guys could definitely use some beauty sleep… or a facial, I'm just saying."

"Exactly!" Rai agreed, "About the Lions and all that, not the facial thing… although, I'll agree with you on that too."

"Besides, why don't you use your quiznacking head for a moment," Kallen protested, glaring at Suzaku, while Coran and Allura flinched and gasped at Kallen as if she just said a foul word, "did it occur to you that Sendak could just destroy Arus, and _then_ come after us anyway? Staying is our _only_ option!"

"First of all, I don't think you used that 'quiznack' word correctly, and second you don't know that!" Suzaku objected gritting his teeth.

"We're not abandoning these people!"

"We're leaving!" Suzaku shouted.

"We're staying!" Kallen yelled back, with more vigor than they ever witnessed back at school, but everyone was too caught up in the situation to notice.

"Leaving!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Staying!" Milly and Rai proclaimed together.

"Snake!" Shirley cried in panic.

"ENOUGH!" Lelouch roared with a tone of finality, showing true fury on his face, "Listen to yourselves! Arguing isn't getting us anywhere! I've said it once and I'll say it again, if we want to survive this we need to work together!"

Everyone else turned their backs to one another, the votes to leave and stay divided perfectly in half, with Suzaku, Rivalz, and Shirley on one side wanting to leave, and Rai, Milly, and Kallen on the other wishing to stay and fight. C.C. stood off to the side observing.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Lelouch turned to the one person in the room who may know what to do, "Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?"

For the first time since the new paladins arrived in her castle, Allura felt great doubt and fear swell inside. For truth be told… she _didn't_ know what to do. It had literally been thousands of years since she had faced the Galra, and as much as she hated to admit it, Shirley was right, without the Red and Purple Lions they couldn't unlock the Black Lion to form Voltron, and she knew that they _needed_ Voltron in order to win this war. With Sendak on his way to destroy the planet and only four working lions, there was no way to know if it would be enough to beat them.

"I-I don't know," Allura admitted, looking down at the floor in dismay.

"What do you mean you don't know!" Kallen exclaimed in frustration, which only seemed to make the princess falter more.

"Perhaps… your father could help," Coran said catching their attention.

"My father?" Allura asked in confusion.

"Wait," Rivalz said, voicing everyone's confusion, "I thought you said her father was dead?"

"Well… not exactly."

o~o

Allura followed Coran down a dark corridor, pitch black except for the neon blue glow of the Altean symbols on the walls and ceilings. A large door slid open in front of them revealing a holodeck interface on the inside. A glowing light in the very center.

"Coran," Allura gasped, "what is this?"

"King Alfor knew there was a chance he might never see you again. So his memories, his very being, was stored in this computer for you." Coran explained as Allura approached the glowing orb of light.

Allura reached out her hand to touch the orb as the orb rose into the air. Suddenly blue sparks expanded, growing in size, turning from blue to yellow, showering the dark room, filling it with light. The very scenery changed from a dark room to a field of lush green grass and beautiful magenta flowers. Mountains formed in the distance and white puffy clouds floating in the crystal blue sky. If the inside of the room still didn't smell of metal, Allura would have thought that it was real. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she never imagined she'd see anything of Altea again.

A metallic ringing filled the air. A ray of blue light arose from the holodeck, forming the body of a man. It was transparent as a ghost but he still looked as strong and regal as when he was alive. His skin tone was identical to Allura's with icy blue eyes and silvery-white and white and blue battle armor with a long blue cape adorning his form. Despite this though, King Alfor's eyes looked tired and worn but still held the immense love they always had.

"Father!" Allura gasped and ran towards the holo form, "Father, it is so good to see you!"

"Allura, my only child, how I've missed your face," the image said with a sad smile.

Despite her happiness though, Allura could barely hold back tears of despair, "I'm so frightened! A Galra ship is set to attack, and I don't know what to do," the princess explained, all but collapsing at the image's feet, "Please father, I need your help."

"I would do anything to take this burden from you," Alfor responded sadly.

"I don't know if we should run, to preserve what we have, or stay and risk everything! I want to fight, but the paladins of old are gone… I know what you would do." she said, gazing up at the man as if she were only a child.

"I scattered the Lions of Voltron to keep them out of Zarkon's hands. You urged me to keep them and fight, but for the greater good of protecting the universe I chose to hide them."

"I think I understand," Allura said.

"No daughter," Alfor said, "You were right. I made a terrible mistake, one that cost the universe countless lives. Forming Voltron is the only way to stop Zarkon. You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the Lions, and correct my error."

o~o

It didn't take long for Allura to exit the room her 'father' resided in. When she entered the control room once again she was now wearing a full body white jumpsuit, with purple, black, and pink outlines. Her hair was styled into a messy bun with ringlets by her ears. The look on her face and fire in her eyes all but told the paladins, C.C., and Coran her answer.

"You seven paladins were brought here for a reason," Allura said, no tremor present in her tone whatsoever, "the Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you, and you alone! We must fight, and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. _We_ are the universe's only hope."

Lelouch responded with a sentence he _never_ thought would come out of his mouth again in his lifetime, but still held the same finality as when he was commanding the Black Knights as Zero. It was a tone that left no room for argument. "We're with you princess."

C.C. only grinned in anticipation as the other paladins nodded, some reluctantly, in agreement.

'This just got interesting…'

o~o

Allura led the seven paladins to a dark room that suddenly lit up with light as they entered. Within the room, in a semi-circle against the wall were seven pods almost identical to the ones Coran and Allura woke up from, only instead of people inside, there were seven identical suits of armor. They looked almost like the armor that medieval Britannian knights wore, only with a bit of a sci-fi flair added to them. They consisted of dark gray to light black full-body undersuits and were topped by stiffer segments of white armor, and just like Allura's suit, they each had a large 'V' showing on the chest plates. The only differences in them were each had a different color outlining it: blue, red, yellow, black, purple, green, and orange.

"Your suits of armor," Allura presented as the paladins each walked up to their respective color, examining it each mumbling in admiration and amazement at the design.

"Cool!" Rai said.

"Nice," Kallen grinned.

"Outstanding," Lelouch said.

"Neat," Shirley said

"Love it!" Milly exclaimed.

"I'll take it," Suzaku said.

"This is going to be awesome!" Rivalz squealed like a fangirl as he looked at his blue armor with stars in his eyes.

"Princess," Coran said, pulling at his mustache as he eyed them with skepticism, "are you sure about this? They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer."

"No, but they're all we've got." In any other situation, Allura would have shared her caretaker's same opinion, but time was of the essence.

"Paladins of Voltron!" Lelouch proclaimed with a smirk on his face, shared by all the others, "Suit up!"

Armor was placed, belts were buckled, plates adjusted, helmets mounted, and (for Shirley and Milly with some help from Allura) hair pulled up in buns, it wasn't long before the new Paladins of Voltron stood before the Alteans, an air of confidence surrounding them all.

Allura placed her hand over a glowing table in the same room, a symbol glowing brightly in the middle. The blue outline then vanished to reveal six handle-like objects which levitated before them, each corresponding to a color of the paladins.

"The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron," she explained as the bayards all floated towards their respective wielder, "it takes a distinct shape for each paladin."

Once the orange bayard landed in Shirley's palm, the object glowed a bright orange before seemingly narrowing and widening to form a very sturdy and versatile bow and a quiver of arrows appearing behind her back along with it. She hummed in slight skepticism as she never really used a bow or any other weapon in her life, but if the princess said it took a distinct shape depending on who wielded it, she supposed she could figure it out.

The red bayard found its way to Kallen's hand, which immediately shifted into what looked like a large glove gauntlet with what appeared to be silver opening that was closed in the middle. Raising her eye in confusion at first before nearly leaping back in surprise as three long claw-like blades appeared between her fingers, looking almost identical to that of Wolverine's claws from the X-men. Smirking she raised the clawed cestus to her face the same way she'd seen the famous X-men do on the movie covers, a matching wolfish grin spreading across her face.

When Milly got hold of the yellow bayard it also glowed until she felt what appeared to be metal in one hand, and a handle of something in another. After the light cleared, quirked her eyebrow in intrigue as a scythe attached to a silver chain appeared in her hands with yellow outlining it. She had seen ninja from old Japanese anime and movies wield a weapon like this, a chain scythe she believed it was called. Grabbing hold of the chain just below the handle, Milly twirled the scythe around in a tight circle before grabbing hold of the handle stop it.

"Stylish, functional, _and_ deadly," the Yellow Paladin smiled mischievously, "the perfect combination."

Suzaku reached for his bayard which took the form of a traditional Japanese katana blade but seemed to have the handle of a longsword, mixing both Japanese and Britannia sword styles, and the purple band on his wrist created a transparent blue shield, making him look like a sci-fi knight in shining armor. The Honorary Britannian smirked as he swung the katana around a few times before striking a finishing battle pose.

Rivalz held his bayard as it shifted into the form of a rifle. He laughed confidently as he aimed the rifle around, pretending to shoot at oncoming enemies.

Rai's bayard turned into an arrow-like blade, glowing a bright forest green. He swung it around, pretending to slice at an invisible threat. It was the smallest of all the bayards, but it also seemed to be the most nimble and easiest to control.

"Aw! You got a cute little bayard Rai," Rivalz teased. Rai smirked and struck Rivalz with it, which sent out an electric shock through the secretary's body, causing him to cry out in pain before falling to the floor, twitching slightly. Milly and the others all laughed.

"Yeah," the blonde said, smiling smugly, "it _is_ pretty cute."

The only one who hadn't received his bayard was Lelouch, whom Allura turned to with a show of regret on her face.

"Lelouch, I'm afraid _your_ bayard was lost with its paladin."

The former prince simply shrugged. He probably would be useless on the front lines anyway with his lackluster body, unless he was inside his lion. And if all else failed, he could always use his Geass. "I'll just have to make do then."

o~o

Back in the control room, the paladins, Allura, and Coran pulled up the image of the battleship once again, planning their course of action.

"You'll have to retrieve the Red and Purple Lions from Sendak's ship," Allura explained.

"That's a pretty big ship…" Suzaku said.

"Yeah," Kallen said, "how are we going to know where the Lions are?"

"Well, it's not a matter of _we_ ," Milly said, "it's more of a matter of you two." Suzaku and Kallen blinked in confusion.

"The Prez is right," Shirley said, "once you get in you'll be able to feel it's presence and like track it down."

"Yeah, you know how Rai felt that crazy energy back on Earth by the lake?" Rivalz asked.

"Yeah…" Kallen said with Suzaku slowly nodding.

"Hey! Didn't you make fun of me for that?" asked Rai accusingly.

"Yep! And I'm proud of it, but it turns out it's exactly like that mumbo jumbo."

"Kallen, Suzaku, remember, though the Red Lion is more than the Purple, both of them are extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect." Allura said.

Kallen and Suzaku both tensed, Lelouch and C.C. being the only ones noticing. Unlike everyone else, who simply found their lions and POOF instant connection and new mechanical cat to ride, they were both going to have to work to ride their lions. Just like everything else they had to do in their lives, whether against or for Brittania, they had to earn it.

However, they received some reassurance when Lelouch placed his hands on their shoulders. They could do this.

"Alright," said Lelouch, "here's our plan of attack..."

o~o

Shirley and Rivalz soared above the atmosphere of Arus, approaching the Galra battleship cautiously.

" _The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Orange Lion…"_

Meanwhile, Milly and Rai flew in with their lions from behind, carefully so that the battleship didn't notice, weaving in and around the asteroids before them.

" _However, the advantage we have is that they don't know we have the Yellow and Green Lion as well. Shirley, Rivalz, you two will act as decoys by pretending to give yourselves up…"_

"Attention Galra ship," Rivalz said after seeing the Galra picked up their signal as he and Shirley moved in closer, "do not fire, we're surrendering our lions."

Shirley gulped, "I hope this works…"

" _While Sendak is distracted, Milly, Rai, Suzaku, Kallen, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Yellow and Green Lion. Suzaku and I will go to find the Purple Lion, while Kallen and Rai find the Red Lion. Milly will guard our exit. Rivalz, Shirley, find some way to take down that ion cannon."_

Milly and Rai both landed on the underside of the ship. Making sure that the Lions would stay in place, Rai exited and used his bayard to cut a clean hole in the wall, allowing the five to sneak in.

Meanwhile, a set of giant doors opened in front of the Orange and Blue Lion. Not knowing what would happen next but remaining calm, Rivalz spoke through the comm links in their helmets, "Milly what's your ETA?"

"We're in," came the reply as the lower mask of the helmet vanished as there was now oxygen available around the ones inside. Looking around, the team deduced that they in some sort of power room, seeing as several bolts of purple lightning were connecting to the roof and floor. The walls and room, in general, were dark the only light present is the faint glow of purple light along the walls. Even without the ominous lighting though, the team could immediately feel that there was definitely something off about the ship. Lelouch, out of habit activated his Geass, as if he anticipated an enemy leaping out behind the metal walls. Like the castle it felt alive, but with a much more sinister and evil presence surrounding them, making them all the more eager to just get the lions and just. Get. Out.

From the pilot room on the other side of the ship, Sendak quickly took action to obtain the lions. "Activate tractor beam."

From outside, a bright purple light from the opened doors began to appear in front of the Orange and Blue Lions.

"What's that thing?" asked Shirley.

"I think that's our signal to get out of here!" Rivalz shouted. He yanked on the controls of his lion, causing it to leap out of the way of the purple beam that came shooting out, just in the knick of time. Shirley followed suite, the beam nothing but empty space.

Sendak grit his teeth anger, "They lied to us! Launch fighters!"

Hatches opened on the sides of the ship as dozens of fighter jets were launched out already firing at the duo.

"Shirley, you dismantle the ion cannon while I take these jerks on a space ride!" Rivalz said, grinning in anticipation as he launched his lion into the pool of fighters.

"Copy that!" she replied tightening her grip as she too sped off, this time straight towards the ship as Rivalz began to give her covering fire maneuvering and dancing around fighters, blasting beams of his own while also getting them to shoot at each other from time to time.

o~o

Back inside the ship, Suzaku cautiously looked around the corner in search of patrols. Finding none he gestured to the others to follow him. Lelouch, Kallen, and Rai emerged after him while Milly squatted to the ground behind them, covering their exit as planned, her scythe gripped tightly in her palm, giving off a faint golden glow.

Rai suddenly stopped, looking down the dimly lit hall. It suddenly seemed to getter larger and longer the more he stared. A vast array of disturbing images flashed before his eyes. A dark cell, surrounded by several other creatures, droids dragging him along the hall someplace, the screams and cries of others filling his ears. The feel of a surgical needle impaling his left eye.

Rai gasped and nearly stumbled backward. He panted as he attempted to regain his composure.

Milly acted fast and steadied him before he could tip over. "Rai, what's wrong?"

"I-I've been here before!" Rai realized as everyone else stopped moving to listen, "After I was taken away on Earth somehow, they brought me, my mother, and sister here."

"Your mother and sister were taken too?" asked Lelouch alarmed. Rai made no mention of this before.

"Yes," Rai nodded, holding his head, before snapping his head up in realization, "They could still be here! I have to rescue them!" he tried to run down the hall, but Lelouch stopped him for a moment.

"Do you know where they could be located?" the exiled prince asked seriously. This was the first time Lelouch truly felt empathy towards Rai, as if he were in Rai's shoes, he too would do the same, especially for Nunnally and maybe even Euphemia.

"Yes," Rai nodded vigorously, "I remember where the prisoners are held!"

"Alright, we'll get them out," Lelouch said, but Suzaku then grabbed his shoulder.

"Lelouch," Suzaku said, "I know we shouldn't endanger innocents, but we probably won't have time to free them! We have to find the lions and get back to Arus! Who knows how long Shirley and Rivalz can keep them distracted!"

"But we can't just leave prisoners here either!" Kallen exclaimed at the Purple Paladin, "They have families and friends waiting for them too you know! Isn't that what Allura said we are? 'The Universe's only hope?' How can we give that hope if we can't even save half-a-dozen prisoners."

"Kallen's right, and besides, we _can_ free prisoners, and still get the lions if we split up," Lelouch said firmly, "Milly and I will go with Rai to get the prisoners out of here. You two go find your lions."

"By ourselves?!" Suzaku exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's just a minor change of plans," Milly said, "and like we discussed back at the castle, you two are the only ones who can really find the lions anyway. You'll be fine. You just have to keep focused on the goal. Those are the words I live by."

"In both a good and evil way," Lelouch muttered under his breath. Milly, fortunately, didn't hear him.

Before the topic could be discussed any further, the sound of opening doors to their left filled the area. Their time was up for now.

"Run!" Lelouch half-whispered, half-shouted, as he, Milly, and Rai ran in one direction, while Kallen and Suzaku ran in the other.

The Red and Purple Paladins panted as they ran down the hall, having no honest idea where they were supposed to go.

As they ran a thought came to Suzaku as he watched Kallen easily keeping up with him. Unusual, especially for someone not allowed to participate in this. ed due to 'health' problems.

"You-you've never been 'sick' from school have you, Kallen?"

The redhead scowled in annoyance. Were they talking about this _now?_

Fortunately, Kallen was rescued from having to discuss this as the pair came to an intersection leading down three halls. "Great, now which way?" Kallen growled.

Suzaku looked from one hall to the other just as frustrated. His eyes eventually fell onto one of the two identical symbols in between the halls. The glowing purple Galra emblem. For a moment, he couldn't look away from the image, no matter how angry it made him feel inside. The sharp edges and sinister formation embodied the race's ruthless and merciless nature to near perfection. Suzaku, no matter how reluctant, already noticed that this race was a lot like the Britannian Empire back on Earth. He could tell that Kallen, and especially Lelouch also saw the parallels, and already hated the Galra for it.

'No,' he shook his head, 'Brittania can still change for the better, there is still hope. The Galra have been doing this for thousands of years longer. This. Is. Different…' but for some reason, no matter how much he repeated this mantra, he couldn't quite bring himself to fully believe it.

"Suzaku hide!" Kallen's urgent whisper broke him from his thoughts as he was shoved to the left away from the center hall while Kallen leaped to the right. Not a moment too soon either as a pair of Galra droids emerged from the center hallway before walking past them, remaining unaware of the two paladins. Suzaku and Kallen made eye contact afterward, both nodding before they continued down the hallway they had hidden in. Like Lelouch said, it may be riskier, but splitting up gave them a bigger chance of finding the Lions.

o~o

Back outside, Shirley gritted her teeth as she set her lion into a nosedive straight for the ion cannon. If she could get a good hit on it at least once, then it would still take a while for ti to get fixed so it would be able to buy Allura and Coran some time. She was sure with the amount of armor on the lion it could probably even smash it to pieces. Just as she was about to hit it though, she felt herself and her lion bouncing off and away from it, almost like they had fun into a flexible steel wall. Flipping backward to regain balance, Shirley flew around to see why she was bounced off and then she saw it.

"What the quiznack?" she gasped, seeing a translucent purple barrier surrounding the ion cannon, "What is that? A forcefield?"

This was going to take longer than she thought.

o~o

"Particle barrier up!"

At Allura's command, a transparent orb of blue energy surrounded the castle. It remained solid for about two seconds before it suddenly vanished.

"Is… that what's supposed to happen?" asked C.C. curiously with a raised eyebrow.

Allura shook her head. Something was wrong as the barrier should have remained on. Coran and the princess quickly rushed to a small control panel where the energy to power the barrier should be. Opening the hatch, they looked inside and Coran quickly spotted the problem.

"Oh, the barrier crystal's are out of alignment!" he gasped.

"You use crystals to power your technology?" asked C.C.

"Yes," Coran said, "Don't you earthlings?"

C.C. was about to answer 'no' when she remembered that the sakuradite mineral was what helped provide the main power for knightmare frames. She shrugged, "In a way, to an extent."

"We have to fix it immediately," Allura said, "without the particle barrier, we'll be defenseless!"

"We're all too big," Coran said, referring to C.C. as well, "what could we do?"

C.C. was about to say they must have some sort of tools that could fix this, obviously, but found that it was not needed as the four space mice squeaked and scampered into the hatch.

"The mice!" Allura smiled.

"How do they know how to do this?" Coran asked.

"I can hear them talking to me," Allura explained, as the mice worked together to get the crystal back in alignment, "I think our minds are connected! It must be from sharing the sleep pod for ten thousand years!"

C.C. raised an eyebrow minutely at this. While she couldn't really call anything impossible anymore, this was definitely a first in her book. Then again though she also wasn't expected to be transported with Lelouch and his fellow classmates to a far off planet either.

After the crystal was realigned the controls lit up and the barrier finally manifested around the castle, in full power this time. The critters squeaked with joy, waving their paws happily.

"Thank you, friends," Allura said with a smile.

Coran then placed his fingers on his temples, his eyes comically wide as he stared intently at the mice, straining so much he actually began sweating.

"Coran, what are you doing?" Allura deadpanned to her assistant, while C.C. could only look on in amusement.

"I'm trying to get them to make me a sandwich."

o~o

Kallen and Suzaku each ran down hallway after hallway, neither of them having luck finding their lion. Shouldn't they have at least felt their presence, or whatever the others said by now?

Suzaku made a sharp turn around the corner only to run headlong into someone, knocking them over. Suzaku quickly scrambled to his feet, bayard in hand only to put away right after when he saw that he had run right into Kallen. Kallen had mirrored his actions as she realized who ran _into_ her.

"Come on Kururugi! Watch where you're going!" Kallen snapped.

"Sorry," Suzaku swiftly apologized, until he registered just where exactly they had run right back into each other… which happened to be the exact same intersection they had split up from, Suzaku coming in from the right and Kallen from the left this time. They had been going in circles!

"Oh come on! You've got to be quiznacking kidding me right now!" Kallen cursed in Altean as she caught onto what Suzaku noticed.

Suzaku regained his composure though and took a deep breath before closing his eyes in concentration, "Okay, let's just calm down and focus, I'm sure we can find them."

Huffing in irritation, Kallen relented before doing the same. Both the paladins waited and listened, then they both heard the sound of a growling purr coming from two areas of the ship.

"There you are!" Kallen smirked as she sprinted down the hall they originally came from.

"Got ya!" Suzaku said shortly after, taking down the hall he had just exited from, smirking.

o~o

Lelouch, Rai, and Milly made a turn to the right down a corridor, the lights changing from purple to green as they traveled. They stopped abruptly when a hovering prism shaped drone flew before them. The markings covering it glowed a cold red as did the small light at the corner of it, moving up and down as if to scan them. Before it could do anything though, Rai shot it down with his wrist laser that had been built into all of their armor. The robot short-circuited and fell to the floor with a clank.

"That thing saw us," Lelouch said, as Rai approached the little droid, "we should get out of here."

"Wait," Rai said, dismantling the robot and tinkering around with its wires, "I think this could come in handy." Lelouch and Milly watched in awe at how easily Rai seemed to understand this technology already. Even Lloyd Asplund would be jealous of his skill.

He flipped the opening closed after finishing the last wire, "Now I'll just reset the controls…" the robot leaped back to life but instead of red lights, bright blue lights lit it up, "And it's working for us!"

"Rai! You little genius you!" Milly grinned. She would have given him a nuggie had he not been wearing his helmet. Lelouch nodded with a smile before turning serious again and glancing down the hall to make sure no one was behind them.

Rai smiled at their new companion as they turned down another hall, "I'm gonna call you Rover. Follow me!"

The three made their way to a large pair of metal doors that were sealed shut. Rai recognized it pretty well. This was definitely a prison cell that very likely held many innocent aliens inside.

"Open up," he ordered Rover, in which the little drone happily complied, a beam shooting out from its lens, its ID being scanned before the door opened.

"Nice job Rai," Lelouch nodded. The doors to the cell opened with a groan, one side rising up, and the other going down.

As light entered the cell, Milly was nearly brought to tears as the distressed cries, whimpers, and moans of the alien prisoners inside.

"Mom? Margaret?" Rai asked as the three entered. The prisoners only cowered in fear, all different types of alien species, some were green, red, blue, and yellow. Some had claws instead of hands and others had multiple arms. One alien, a slender gray one with a fish-like face was hugging what appeared to be an adolescent yellow alien with a single eye and yellow skin.

As Rai slumped in disappointment seeing that his mother and sister weren't present among them, Milly and Lelouch came up behind them.

"Don't be afraid," Milly said with a kind smile, "the three of us are here to help you escape."

The gray alien scanned over Lelouch and Milly before his eyes fell on Rai again. His eyes widened in shock and… awe?

"It's you!" he gasped, as Rai brought his head back up, his eyes widening in confusion, "it's you, The Champion. If anyone can get us out of here, he can."

"Wh-what did you call me?" asked Rai. He didn't remember any of these aliens at all. And the champion of what?

"We don't have time to wait," Lelouch said as he exited the cell, "Let's get them to the escape pods and meet up with Kallen and Suzaku. Quickly!"

"Right," Milly nodded as she and Rai started waving prisoners out, "let's get going."

o~o

Rivalz, made a sharp turn around the ship, laughing and whooping as he went, avoiding a shot from two more ships. Even though he was technically in a life or death situation right, he couldn't help but feel how exhilarating flying the Blue Lion felt, even if it was in the middle of a battle.

"Yeah!" he grinned, "This is much for fun without anyone puking on me!"

On the other hand, Shirley wasn't having much success breaking the particle barrier surrounding the cannon. She attempted once again to break through by slamming against it with the Orange Lion, only to once again be bounced off and drift away. She had hit it so hard she had nearly hit her head on the controls, and she already felt a massive headache forming.

'This is going to hurt in the morning," she thought miserably.

o~o

Kallen followed the energy of the Red Lion until she reached her destination. Taking out her clawed cestus, she cut through the doors that led to the other side like butter. Rushing inside, she was soon confronted by a warm red glow from the end of the room. There it was, the Red Lion, hovering a little above the floor inside its particle barrier, its eyes faded and dark, indicating it was still asleep.

"Bingo," she grinned as she ran up to it and placed her hand on the particle barrier, "Let's get out of here. Open up!"

Unlike the other lions though, who lowered their barriers the moment their respective paladin, this lion was stubborn and refused to connect to Kallen. The Red Paladin knew getting the Red Lion's trust would be more difficult than the others, but she honestly hoped that it wouldn't be this way.

"It's me, Kallen, your pilot," she insisted, trying to use a tone she would use if she speaking to a friend of hers or even her brother Naoto. Kallen scowled in frustration. Come on! What would it take for this thing to like her?!

"It's _me! Kallen!_ You're- _I am your paladin!"_ she exclaimed rather bluntly, but the lion still didn't move.

Kallen grit her teeth as she banged on the barrier. She must be doing this wrong, there was something she was missing. She didn't have any more time to think though as several Galra droids started to fire at her. She activated her wrist shield (Allura told them they each had one after Suzaku 'modeled' his with his bayard) to protect herself from the blasts as she continued to try and bond with the lion.

"I'm bonding with you! Come on! We're connected! Or whatever you want to call it!"

Still no response. Snarling in fury, Kallen reactivated her bayard (she had still been wearing it but had retracted the claws), the three cestus claws shining menacingly from the lights in the hanger, and charged the droids. She wasn't necessarily angry with the lion, she knew she was going to have to make it trust… somehow, but she was _far_ more than annoyed with these droids firing at her.

"You're not getting this lion!" she shouted as she blocked one of the droids strikes before slicing its legs off. She sliced another droid to pieces right through the middle. She ducked to avoid another strike from above and reached up grabbing the droids head, intending to crush it.

She then heard a 'click' in her gauntlet hand and what followed she could only describe as a major robot malfunction. The palm of her gauntlet glowed a bright red and the droid expanded and melted at the same time before going up in a miniature inferno, blasting Kallen back against the control panel. The blasts kept coming, but Kallen stared, astounded at her gauntlet. The center with the silver circular opening still smoking before closing shut over a red light.

"Woah-" Kallen couldn't finish her sentence before one shot nearly knicked her ear. She looked around frantically before eyeing a large glowing button at the bottom of the control panel. Following her instinct, she lowered her shade to cover her entire mouth so she could breathe before slamming her fist onto the button. The hatch beneath them opened, sucking all of the Galra droids into the soul-sucking darkness of space.

Kallen held onto the control panel with all her might, looking up desperately at the lion almost pleading with it to do something. Debris and other parts of the ships zoomed past her face, one of them hitting her hand. She yelped as she lost her grip on her left hand. She attempted to reach back and get another grip, but another piece of debris hit her square in the face. She knew that if she hadn't been wearing the space helmet, that surprisingly remained intact from the blow, she probably would have been knocked out cold. She lost her grip, screaming in terror as she was sucked into space.

She floated in zero gravity, her eyes flickering frantically unsure what to do now.

To her surprise though, it turned out she didn't need to do anything as the Red Lion came swooping out of the hanger and came to _her_ , nipping her out of the air and settling her in the safety of its mouth.

Despite the initial shock of the experience, she smirked as she sat down in the pilot seat and was brought to the 'head' of the lion inside where the controls rested.

"Good kitty," she said, placing her hands on the control handles, "let's roll!"

o~o

(Happening at the same time as Kallen's)

Suzaku sliced through another droid as he continued to charge toward a hanger door that he felt the Purple Lion was in. _Unlike_ Kallen, who didn't run into any droids until she _in_ the hanger, there were droids hanging around every corner!

"Seriously! Don't you guys have something better to do?!" Suzaku complained as he pushed through another pair of droids. Panting, Suzaku looked around seeing nothing but droid scraps surrounding him, some still short-circuiting from recent wounds. Looking at the door he saw that there was a hand-scanner of some sort.

"I wonder…" Suzaku wondered aloud as he squatted next to one of the droids before taking its hand, which was only dangling by a few wires and held it against the scanner. Slipping into the hand print, the scanner glowed a faint violet before the door in front of him opened. Looking inside, he almost didn't see the lion, as the purple lights nearly matched the lights of the ship itself, but it was there as he could just barely make out its outline.

"There you are," he smiled as he began running toward the lion. Before he was even halfway through a blast flashed by his head, nearly knicking the side of his neck. His military training was the only thing that probably saved him from certain death. Whipping around, his bayard activated he saw that it wasn't a droid that had shot at him, but an actual Galra officer. And he was HUGE!

He grinned, lowering his rifle that almost claimed Suzaku's life, his hair and fur brushed neatly, and hard, cold amber eyes staring into his very soul.

"So," he said with a deep voice that sent shivers down Suzaku's spine, " _you're_ one of the new paladins. You must be the new Purple Paladin. Obviously of course, why else would you be seeking our lions."

"They're not _your_ lions!" Suzaku snapped, his bayard still at the ready, "they belong to Princess Allura of Altea. You have no right to any of them!"

The Galra could only laugh a hearty, belly laugh, as if mocking the boy, as more droids fell into the room, surrounding him, "On the contrary, we _did_ find it first after ten thousand years. As the saying goes 'finders, keepers',"

"Finding it doesn't make it yours! And besides, I don't see that lion coming over to defend you right now. It only serves the one it chooses!"

The Galra stopped laughing before sneering at the Purple Paladin, "So, you're a 'know-it-all' type, are you? I _hate_ know-it-alls." The guard swung his rifle outwards, causing what looked like a hidden compartment to open, turning the gun into a wicked looking scythe-like weapon.

Suzaku's eyes widened as the Galra charged at him. Suzaku barely had time to bring his bayard up to block him, even then though the strike from the Galra was strong enough to throw him back at least a yard. He slid backward, nearly losing balance before bringing his sword up to block again, the Galra soldier bearing down on him. The metal underneath them creaked at the strength of the Galra above him, sweat already dripping down his face.

"Well, well," the Galra grinned, his yellow teeth bared, "you've got some spirit I see. I might just let you live if you give up."

"Never," Suzaku gritted out as his grip on the bayard beginning to shake. Seriously, was this alien made out of boulders?!

"You do realize if you don't quit now, you'll die. Not much help to the _princess_ dead now are you?"

"That doesn't matter," Suzaku grunted, "there were paladins before us. If I die, they can find another. All that matters is getting the Purple Lion back to the others."

"Tch, how pathetic," the Galra tisked mockingly, "throwing life away for something so worthless. Fine though, if you're so eager to die, I'll grant you that wish!"

The Galra pressed his weight down on Suzaku even harder, Suzaku nearly losing his grip on his bayard. Suzaku could swear he heard his bones creaking as he yelled in pain and righteous fury.

Death, however, was not Suzaku's destiny that day, as a mighty roar suddenly filled the room. The particle barrier around the Purple Lion dissipated and began charging straight for Suzaku and the Galra soldier. The soldier and Suzaku both looked up in shock, though the soldier more in fear as well. The Galra in sheer terror tore himself away from Suzaku and made a run for the door. Suzaku was too stunned to move as the lion leaped above him, standing proudly above with him protectively between the lion's front paws.

"SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!" he ordered frantically to the droids. Before the droids could even raise their guns though, the lion roared and its tail shot out dark beams of energy, hitting each droid dead on. It wasn't long before they were nothing more than scrap metal.

The Galra, now terrified, attempted to run for the exit but didn't get far as he felt sheer agony tear through him, from his back to his torso. Looking down, he was stared in horror at the purple and white blade protruding from his gut.

"You're no soldier," Suzaku muttered, pulling his sword out from the Galra, "you're nothing but a coward. Why you decided to become a soldier I'll never know!" The Galra gurgled before slumping forward, his scythe-rifle falling limply from his hands.

Suzaku breathed heavily as he stared at the dead Galra, already feeling bile rising in his throat, painful, unwanted memories rising to the surface of his mind. His right hand trembling to the point he nearly dropped his bayard.

A soothing purr soon filled his mind, pushing the memories away. Suzaku turned to face the Purple Lion in apprehension. Did she see that? Did she now know what he did? Another purr filled his mind as the lion lowered its head to let him in accepting him as her paladin.

Suzaku smiled in absolute relief, he knew he would have to reveal his secret to the others eventually, but right now, he just wasn't ready yet.

"Let head back," he said as he gripped the controls in the pilot seat.

o~o

Lelouch, Milly, and Rai led the prisoners through the ship to the escape pods as fast as possible. The aliens were moments away from freedom. They had been locked up for so long they nearly forgot what it felt like to be free.

"Halt!" a droid called out, followed by four more. Milly kept herding the prisoners into the pod as Lelouch and Rai prepared to face the droids. Rai activated his bayard while Lelouch raised his fists. His body may not be the fittest, but he would do everything in his power to get the prisoners out safely.

Lelouch and Rai both suddenly felt a jolt of pain in their right eyes, and it wasn't long before they were seeing red, clutching their Geass eyes in pain, collapsing to their knees.

o~o

C.C. blinked as she suddenly felt a pulse of energy run through her body. The red mark of the Geass Code flashed across her forehead before fading. It did leave stinging pain in her head though.

'What was that?'

o~o

"Lelouch? Rai? What's wrong?" Milly's voice was nothing but a muffle in the background.

'What's going on?' fear suddenly gripping Lelouch. He didn't remember calling upon his Geass, he wasn't even planning to use it as he wasn't sure it would work on droids. He remembered C.C. mention this before. She called it a 'Runaway Geass' and had warned him that if he used his Geass too recklessly then his Geass would activate permanently. Was it happening already? He hadn't been using his Geass for _that_ long... right?

'And when did Rai get a Geass as well? Did C.C. give him one as well? And if so when? Wait-' Lelouch suddenly realized that Rai was in pain similar to this back in the castle, right before he got some of his memories back. 'What was going on-'

Before Lelouch could think anymore, his mind suddenly went blank, the blazing red seal of his Geass shining brightly in his left eye. Had he looked at Rai, he would have seen the same thing happening to him. They both looked up looks of pure murder on their faces.

Rai shot forward while Lelouch squared his shoulders, a red-tinged aura surrounding his wrists and arms, red crackling electricity seeming to surge from them.

Rai easily blocked the laser shots with his bayard and armor before slicing and dicing it to pieces. Two droids broke through Rai's guard but they didn't get far as Lelouch reigned his arms backward before shooting them forwards again, red energy erupting and blasting through the droids before rushing forward to meet more. Rai flipped over one of the droids that were shot backward and sliced the heads of three more droids off and Lelouch slid under him and with his bare hand stabbed straight through the chest of the last droid, hand still crackling.

Milly could only watch slack-jawed at the now useless pile of droids that surrounded the two boys. 'Since when could Lulu do that? He's been holding out on us!'

Lelouch and Rai blinked and shook their heads, the Geass in their eyes disappearing. They both looked around in confusion at the now fallen droids. What the heck just happened?

The sound of the escape pod doors closing shattered the illusion as the trio looked at the prisoners in the pod as it drew away from the ship.

"Thank you Zephyr," the gray alien smiled at Rai as the pod reeled away, the aliens being escorted to safety. Rai reached out to them, confusion on his face.

"Wait- who's Zephyr?" Rai asked before realizing that now wasn't the time for questions, they could wait until they got back to the castle.

"Rai, who were they talking about?" Lelouch asked suspiciously, in which Rai could only shake his head helplessly, just as confused.

"Lelouch. Lamperouge." Milly harrumphed, "Explain yourself, young man! What on Earth have you been doing to compensate for missing gym?"

"What?" Lelouch asked now the confused one.

"Just a minute ago, you two were completely wiping the floor with those things. And last I checked Lulu you can't even run a mile without looking like you ran a 5K afterward!"

Rai still looked completely confused while Lelouch slowly covered his left eye, and looking down on his right hand after.

"I-I don't know…"

o~o

Finally having enough, Shirley yanked down on one of the handles as hard as her hands could muster. A bright blue beam of energy shot out of the Orange Lion's mouth and directly at the particle barrier, purple cracks beginning to form.

"Come on! Just break you stupid thing!" she exclaimed. Finally, after putting everything she had into the blast, the barrier shattered leaving the ion cannon wide open for attack.

"Score one for Shirley!" Not wasting another second, Shirley zoomed down and slammed the Orange Lion into the side of the ion cannon, leaving a large dent in the side. Not exactly the greatest example of vandalism but it should at least buy them some time before it was fixed. Looking up she saw four more lions swiftly pass overhead, Milly's, Rai's, with Kallen's Red Lion, and Suzaku's Purple Lion.

"You guys made it!" Shirley cried in happy relief.

"Kitty Rose has left the stage!" Milly replied with a grin.

"Let's get the heck out of here!" Rivalz said as he directed the Blue Lion to fly back to Arus.

"I hope I stopped that cannon," Shirley said, "I could barely make a dent in it!"

"They stole both the lions!" one of the Galra officers said to Sendak back on the ship's bridge.

"After them!" Sendak snarled, "Either we get those lions, or we blow this whole planet to cosmic dust! Fire the ion cannon!"

"Sir! The ion cannon has been damaged!" the officer said.

"Then send the drones to _fix it!"_ Sendak order in exasperation as the Galra ship began approaching the Arusian atmosphere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone is confused, Margaret is the name of Rai's younger sister. She, Rai, and their mother were abducted by the Galra a little while before the official Code Geass series began. Won't say anything else as more of Rai's past will be revealed as we go.
> 
> The next chapter will finish off the 'pilot' episode of Voltron.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you don't agree with the bayard choices and think a different weapon would suit them better, then just let me know. And why did Lelouch, Rai, and C.C.'s Geass/Codes react like that? Are the Galra connected to the Geass power somehow?
> 
> So, if there are any further questions, leave a comment so I can answer it for you!
> 
> R&R!


	6. Rise of Voltron Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Lion emerges and Voltron is formed

The six lions stood assembled before the large hangar doors. The anticipation in the air was thick enough someone could easily swim through it. Finally, after ten thousand years, the seven Lions of Voltron would be united once again.

Lelouch breathed deeply as he stood on the steps leading to the door. He'd never admit it aloud, but he was nervous. Though Allura did say he would be the Black Paladin, what if that wasn't the case? What if the lion didn't respond to him?

' _No,'_ Lelouch thought, ' _you can do this. If it doesn't accept you, the universe is doomed.'_

One by one, the eyes of the lions behind him lit up as the doors opened.

Back on the bridge of the ship, a screen in front of Allura and Coran showed images of the six active lions on diamonds of their color, three on the right, three on the left, and a large indigo diamond at the top. She clapped her hands together in anticipation, praying that the Black Lion would awaken. She didn't mention this to Lelouch or the others, but the Black Lion could be picky with its rider as well, especially since it was the head of Voltron and would ultimately lead the team. If it didn't see it's paladin as competent enough, she could reject them.

Lelouch's heart pounded as the doors to the hanger glowed blue and the doors rose, to reveal the black beauty herself.

Lelouch's eyes widened at the sight, along with the other paladins that stood behind him by their lions, gazing in astonishment. The Black Lion was definitely the largest of the seven. Sleek black body, a gold chest and 'crown' on its head and large red wings hanging on her back. Her eyes dark indicating she was still asleep. Her eyes suddenly lit up, before she lurched forward, producing a tremendous roar, that seemed to echo throughout the entire castle. The six other lions mimicked their leader, returning with roars of great respect.

Allura sighed in relief as the indigo diamond lit up and Coran leaped up with a cheer of victory. It was not to last though as alarms blazed throughout the castle.

"Oh quiznack!" Coran exclaimed as a video feed appeared on the castle's screen. The Galra battleship along with hundreds of fighters had entered Arus's atmosphere and was coming in fast.

Allura placed her hands on the control panels, multiple screens showing the castle's defenses lit up. "Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now!" her voice emerging from the intercoms to alert the Paladins.

One by one, the Paladins entered their lions. Lelouch slid into his seat in the Black Lion's head and was brought up to the controls, gripping to the two control sticks firmly in his hands, the walls and screens lighting up in a white light. The Black Lion's eyes flashed before roaring again and shooting up into the air and flying towards the opening at the very top of the castle, the six others following close behind. They landed firmly on the ground, their silver bodies gleaming in the sunlight, witnessing the Galra shooting at the castle's barriers. Each hit causing a small explosion, weakening the shield bit by bit.

"The ion cannon is back online," the Galra soldier informed Commander Sendak from the control deck.

"FIRE!"

The ion cannon, shot its powerful beam, hitting the castle head on. The barrier was engulfed in a fiery inferno, powerful enough to shake the hill that the castle was perched on. Coran, C.C., and Allura held onto the controls from inside while the Paladins could only endure the impact from their lions, their bodies practically vibrating with the hill.

"Man those Galra guys repair things fast!" Rivalz exclaimed, astonished to see the cannon that Shirley had managed to partly destroy running better than ever.

"The barrier gets weaker with every blast," Coran said as he scanned the particle barrier, "Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless!"

Allura kept her composure as she contacted Lelouch and the other Paladins, "I can give you cover in the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now, or we'll all be destroyed!"

"Jeez, no pressure!" Shirley mumbled with frightened sarcasm.

Another blast from the Galra's cannon hit the barrier, once again it was engulfed in an inferno, causing earthquake levels of shaking once more. Lelouch grit his teeth as he and the others endured until the shaking ceased, the particle barrier already short-circuiting from the damage. His hands were white beneath his black gloves from gripping the controls so hard.

"Team Voltron, listen up! The only way we'll stop Sendak is to fight with everything that we've got! We can't let the castle fall, otherwise, we're just handing victory over to Sendak and Zarkon! Are you with me?!"

Each of the paladins nodded in response, even the mechanical lions nodding with them. They had come this far, each protecting the other, it was far too late to turn back now.

"Very well!" Lelouch said, pulling on his controls and pushing his lion forward out of the barrier, the other lions following behind, "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" they shouted in unison.

"Okay, quick question though how?" Suzaku said, suddenly remembering a big problem.

"Good question," Kallen said while avoiding incoming blasts, "how _do_ we form Voltron?"

"I don't see a 'combine into a giant robot' button anywhere on my dashboard!" Shirley said as the lions leaped across the rock landscape of the hill. Beams of the Galra ship forced them to remain moving otherwise they would get shot.

Rai in the Green Lion barely dodged a flurry of lasers, "This is insane! Can't they just cease firing for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?!" Rai shouted right before turning around a leaping towards two gliders that closer to the ground. Jumping up, the Green Lion caught one of them in his mouth by the wing before throwing it into the other.

"I doubt these guys are the considerate type Rai," Milly said as she nearly lost her balance from another laser landing right in front of her.

Kallen also turned around and used the Red Lion's laser tail to shoot down two more flyers. "We got to do _something!"_

"Combine!" Rivalz yelled as he suddenly rammed his lion into Kallen's which was flung backward and rolled across the ground before regaining balance.

"Hey!" Kallen exclaimed in annoyance.

"Okay, that didn't work," Rivalz said, slightly ashamed.

"Good try," Shirley said, trying to comfort the Blue Paladin, right before having to dodge shots _again_.

Lelouch grit his teeth in frustration. He hated having to be in a battle like this. Unlike on Earth back with the Black Knights, at least he had had information on the enemy. Not to mention he already knew what actions his siblings and the other Britannian soldiers would make so he was easily able to thwart them. Not to mention his Geass helped greatly in that department as well, but this time he was on a completely blank slate. He only had his king and couple pawns remaining. Barely any moves available to make on the board. He had to figure out how to form Voltron with the others, FAST!

It didn't help when Allura's face appeared on the screen of the lion, "Quickly paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!"

"Maybe if we fly in formation we'll just combine," Lelouch suggested. It seemed to be the most logical solution right now, seeing as the lions needed to be a specific part of Voltron if they flew a specific way, they were bound to just come together, "Everyone, take off on my cue!" The seven lions dashed towards the edge of the cliff as Lelouch began counting down, "One, two, three, Voltron!"

As one, the lions leaped off the cliff and soared into the sky in perfect 'V' formation. The paladins grunted and strained themselves, trying desperately to try and merge together, but nothing was happening.

"Nothing's happening!" Lelouch exclaimed in frustration.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait!" Rivalz said, "I think I feel something!"

"I do too!" Milly confirmed, "it's like we're being pulled in the same direction!"

"Uh, guys!" Kallen suddenly shouted, "I think I know why!"

"Yeah! Look up!" Suzaku said.

"What the cheese?!" Shirley exclaimed as they all saw that they had been caught in Sendak's tractor beam and were slowly being pulled in.

"Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!" Rai shouted in panic, pulling at controls, desperate to escape.

Sendak smirked evilly. "Send a report to Emperor Zarkon. The day is ours!"

The ship unleashed one final blast from the ions cannon, and this time it completely destroyed the particle barrier leaving the castle vulnerable, C.C., Coran, and Allura losing balance as it happened.

"No!" Lelouch gasped as an image of the defenseless castle appeared on his screen.

Shirley's screen appeared right next to it, the girl looked like she was having a panic attack, "Lulu! I don't care what you say, I'm panicking now!" followed by a shrill scream.

Everyone else, and their lions tried desperately to move, but no matter what they did, they were completely frozen, at the mercy of Sendak's crew.

"It can't end here!" Rai shouted.

"This is it!" Rivalz cried.

"It's been an honor flying with you," Suzaku said.

"It was good while it lasted everyone." Kallen agreed.

"At least we'll go down together," Milly said, trying to comfort everyone one last time.

From the castle, Allura could only watch with tears in her eyes as the universe's last hope was pulled towards the enemy.

Lelouch was gripping the controls of the Black Lion so hard, his hands were turning white. Gritting his teeth he looked up defiantly at the ship sucking them in. No. He was Zero! He was the Man Who Works Miracles. He's already pulled off more impressive feats with the Black Knights than any other terrorist group could only dream of. He confronted his father, the freaking _Emperor of Britannia,_ and demanded an explanation to his mother's murder, and what did he get in return?! Banishment to Japan with Nunnally blinded and crippled to add icing to the cake! Nunnally was the entire reason he was fighting. He promised Nunnally he would make the world a gentle place for her. If he gave up now, it would be like spitting upon that promise and the memory of his mother, Lady Marianne vi Britannia. He wouldn't give up.

_He REFUSED!_

"NO!" Lelouch proclaimed, "We can do this! But we can't do that unless we believe in ourselves!" the other paladins blinked at their leader's words, "If we give up now, we may as well be digging Earth's grave, and several other planets will follow close behind!"

Milly thought of her grandfather, all alone at Ashford Academy.

Rivalz saw his father, mother, sisters, and baby brother, praying and kneeling for him to found and safely returned.

Shirley saw her father and mother, worried sick and devastated over her disappearance.

Rai heard his sister and mother calling out to him, begging to see him again and rescue them.

Princess Euphemia, the sub-viceroy whom he had grown to respect and trust in the short time he knew her flashed through Suzaku's mind. Sweet innocent Euphie… he could never let her be subjected to this.

A tear trailed down Kallen's face as the face of her now deceased brother and her mother's soft smile, taking the abuse of her stepmother and continuing to remain by her side. She never realized until now, but besides those of the now current Black Knights, her mother had always been there for her, even when she didn't want her to be. How could she have been so blind up to this point?

"The situation seems impossible that's true! But if we work and listen to one another, we can pull off our own miracle! Failure to do so is _not an option!_ "

The paladin's expressions hardened. Lelouch was right. They couldn't afford to lose now, not with so many lives at stake now!

"If we work together… _WE'LL WIN TOGETHER!"_

" _ **YEAH!"**_ the others cheered next to him, the eyes of their lions glowing a bright gold as they lifted up their heads to roar in unison!

Then as one, at the very moment, the seven paladins felt something deep within them all snap into place, the lions following not even a split second later. The joining of seven hearts, seven minds, seven souls.

They were one.

The lions leaped into the sky, their colors sailing behind them in a stream as pieces took shape, merging together as one, each lion dismantling itself, pieces either retracting or extending to form and link together.

A bright flash of light followed as the resulting shock wave of a lion's roar jostled the ion just enough, that when the final shot fired, it missed the Castle of Lions by mere centimeters, instead, it hit and destroyed of the mountains behind it in a fiery inferno.

After regaining balance from the explosions aftershock Allura, Coran, and even C.C. looked up and gasped in astonishment.

Bringing in a closer image, they saw the outline of a large figure made entirely from metal. The face of the warrior could be seen within a dark helmet, shaped like the head of a lion, large red metal wings outstretched from the body. The upper torso looked black with outlines of blue energy. The left arm a green color, the right red. Its right leg blue and left orange with the faces of the lions as the feet and two more lion heads making up the knees in yellow and purple respectively. Same with the arms as the lion heads made up the hands. A neon blue 'V' symbol was presented proudly on its chest.

Sendak could only gasp in terror and took a step back, not believing what he was seeing, "Voltron!"

"We did it!" Suzaku exclaimed.

"I can't believe it!" Kallen agreed.

"We formed Voltron!" Rai cheered.

"And we look AMAZING!" Milly commented.

"I'm a leg!" Rivalz said in wonder.

"How are we doing this?!" Shirley could only ask in astonishment.

Lelouch was honestly just as astonished and amazed at what they accomplished. Not to mention it felt amazing! Since the lions were now one being, is was as if he could sense what everyone else was thinking as well. They really were a team.

"I don't know, but let's get that cannon!" Lelouch ordered, thrusting the controls forward the winged giant gripped the cannon and snapped it off the ship like it was a mere twig. Voltron tossed it away and watched as it landed in a nearby field. With a swing of its right arm, the Red Lion's head punched through the ship's surface, a powerful beam of energy blasting through the ship, the front of it exploding in an inferno, breaking the ship in two.

Sendak stumbled before catching himself, seeing the shadow of the Defender of the Universe soar to the other side of the ship, before stomping through the interior on the other side, a beam emitting from the Green Lion on Voltron's left arm. As Sendak watched from the control deck his ship going up in flames, he and his second in command, Haxus, turned in terror and ran to the escape pods.

They had made it just in time as Voltron soared into the air and sped forward ramming right into the ship, the seven paladins within the giant screaming in righteous fury. They slammed so hard into the ship, they smashed through one end and right out the other. The ship caught fire before blowing up in a blaze as they landed on the ground, the glow of the destroyed ship lighting up the Arusian sky.

o~o

The sun was setting in the distance as the paladins, now in their disbanded lions returned to the Castle of Lions triumphant. They landed near the entrance where Allura, C.C., and Coran awaited them. All of them were sweaty and worn out, but otherwise happy to have made it out of the battle alive.

"Good work Paladins!" Allura praised, a look of joy in her smile.

"Thanks, pretty lady," Rivalz replied with a smile as he removed his helmet along with Lelouch, Suzaku, and Rai. Shirley had fallen on her behind she was so tired, and Milly had her hands on her knees, panting. Kallen was only slightly hunched over. Both their helmets were still on. Milly was actually amazed Lelouch of all people was one of the ones still standing after that.

"Well, mission accomplished," Lelouch said a tired smile.

"Yeah," Suzaku agreed, looking at his childhood friend with a small grin, "we did it!"

"How did we do it?" asked Kallen, removing her helmet and looking at Lelouch questioningly.

"I was kind of just screaming the whole time," Shirley said with a shrug, taking off her helmet and untying her bun, her hair flowing behind her, "maybe that did it?"

Everyone chuckled at Shirley's attempt at a joke before Rai looked down with a grimace of regret. Milly and Lelouch, seeing this knew exactly why. The Yellow Paladin put a comforting hand on Rai's shoulder.

"Don't worry Rai, we're not going to stop searching until we find your mother and sister, that's a promise!"

"Just keep thinking about them," Lelouch said adding his two cents, "no matter where they are right now, I'm sure they're proud of you." Rai gave the two a smile of appreciation. He hadn't realized how much he truly needed to hear that. He felt like for the time being that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"We won the battle," Allura addressed them after a moment, Coran standing next to her in classic military fashion, "but the war has only just begun… I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions."

"Good thing you paladins know what you're doing," Coran said, "because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again."

"Totally- wait what?!" Shirley exclaimed, pretty voicing everyone's thoughts.

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time!" Rivalz added.

"Oh, and you only had to battle _one_ ship," Coran said, "wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! Yeah, it's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe."

At this statement, all the paladins gained intrigued looks, replaying the words Coran just said. They turned and looked up at the lions behind them as if they were heavenly beings, which in a way they kind of were.

Suzaku suddenly smirked, before addressing the Black Paladin, "I don't know Lelouch, what you think?"

Lelouch simply smirked his famous smirk. The one Rivalz often saw when Lelouch was playing a 'challenging' opponent when off gambling. A smirk that stated that he knew exactly what he was doing and what he was going to do to win the game!

' _And here I call check Charles zi Britannia,'_

"'Defenders of the Universe' huh? If you ask me Suzaku, I say it has a nice ring to it."

'This is going to be interesting." C.C. thought as the sun's rays seemed to make the lions glow from atop the hill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the characters from CG seem OOC, I'm to find a healthy mix of their personalities. Also, just to let you all know, especially in regards to C.C., I don't really plan for any prominent roles for her until maybe after Season 2 of Voltron (with a certain Prince perhaps...?). But if you do spot anything that you think should REALLY be changed for them personality wise, don't hesitate to tell me because I like staying true to their characters.
> 
> Also, in regards to Voltron season 3... HOLY CRAP, I KNEW IT! ***** and **** are alive! You'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen the leaked screenshot. MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!
> 
> Anyway for further questions, R&R, please! Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone! For those of you who follow me on Fanfiction (W.I.T.C.H.-and-Naruto-Gurl) you obviously recognize this piece. Don't worry I'm the same person, I'm not stealing from anyone! Now that I've got an account on here, I'm going to be transferring my work, but I will be posting on both sites!
> 
> For those of you who are new to my stories, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. R&R and stay tuned!


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